


Darkness Among Us: Part III

by AltForFrozen



Series: Darkness Among Us [3]
Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Gen, High Fantasy, Psychological Drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:11:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 122
Words: 235,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26310142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AltForFrozen/pseuds/AltForFrozen
Summary: Arendelle has fallen. The new King rules over the land with an iron fist. A family is shattered. When one of them discovers a new way to fight back, can they come together to defeat the Empire? Or are some broken bonds beyond repair?The conclusion to the Darkness Among Us trilogy. Is "canon" to the first movie, not to the second, though it definitely takes inspiration from Frozen 2.
Relationships: Anna/Kristoff (Disney), Elsa/OC
Series: Darkness Among Us [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/700158
Comments: 309
Kudos: 29





	1. After The Fall: Anna

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back. It's been a while. Commentary about chapters, if there is any, as well as anything I'd like the audience to read, will always be in the end notes, so if you're interested in only that, you can feel safe in skipping any beginning notes that may be posted. This note section is purely about posting logistics, if you don't care, please feel free to skip. Without further ado, some information about how this story will be posted.
> 
> As a reminder for any returning readers, and as a heads-up for those of you new to my work, I have a different style than most authors. While it seems most authors will post chapters as they are completed, Part III is a fully completed work, edited and ready to go. I write because I find it fun, but that being said, I still enjoy sharing my work with others who may get something out of it. If I post it all at once, it would very quickly fall by the wayside, but I also don't like artificially stretching it out too much, but I ALSO don't want to post every single day because that would feel like gaming the default search results, which is sorted by update date. Feels a little spammy, you know? I'm not even going through the work of writing something each and every day, but I command the top spot for weeks? Nope.
> 
> In an effort to reach a fair compromise, this is what I will do. There are 232,163 words, and over one hundred chapters, in this third part. Many of the chapters are rather short, some are quite long. My plan is to post somewhere in the neighborhood between 4-5,000 words every Saturday, Tuesday, and Thursday. This is still pretty often compared to most works, which update once or twice a week at most, but I'm also considering simple brevity- I don't want to take almost a full year to post this story (once per week at 5,000 words per update is almost 50 weeks, the way I have it now gets it down to around 3 months). 
> 
> This method will often result in multiple chapters being uploaded in a single day. I'll also always upload chapters that make sense. If posting one more chapter would make me hit 5,000 words for that day, but it means there's a massive cliffhanger, I won't post that one more chapter, so that updates never end in frustration. I can't promise there will never be a cliffhanger at all, but I try not to do ones that are TOO mean.

The first few months had been the worst, by far. In the aftermath of Arendelle’s fall, Anna did not take well to being on the run. She was by no means as spoiled as some princesses might be, but that didn’t mean she was used to being hunted. On the first night, the night that would come to be known as the Fall, as the last bastion resisting the Empire was swept aside, she broke into an empty farmhouse for a change of clothes. She stashed her Queensguard armor and Silva under some floorboards in the kitchen. She didn’t expect to ever wear them again, but she also didn’t want the Empire getting their filthy hands on them. She gathered everything of use she could from the house, then set off once more into the night.

For the first week, she focused on getting as far away from Arendelle, and her ruined family, as possible. The days were cold, the nights colder. She lost track of the amount of times she broke down sobbing. She spent hours clutching the blue ribbon, still stained with the blood of the boy who never had a chance to live, before trudging on again. Every night, she went to sleep hungry. The meager meals she’d managed to scavenge did little to tame the pangs of hunger that gnawed at her insides. She slept in whatever hiding spot she could find, only half caring if the Empire found her. At least then she could rest.

By far the worst thing was the crushing loneliness. She thought she knew loneliness, back in the castle, the days before Elsa opened her door. She had no idea. She would go weeks without seeing another person now. At least in the castle, there were servants, and mom and dad, to talk to on occasion. She spent countless hours outside Elsa’s locked door, talking to her- not receiving a response, but hoping that she was at least listening. Now, there was no one. She existed on the fringes of society, stealing what she could, and hating herself for it. She slept wherever she could find, a barn, a cave, an abandoned shack, never staying in one place for more than a few days before moving on. 

As the weeks turned to months, she started adapting to her new life. Her hair got her noticed more than anything else, so she cut it. She just bunched it up and slashed it with a knife, leaving it hanging just above her shoulders. She learned how to move about unnoticed, how to cover her tracks. She became adept at lurking in the shadows of seedy bars, gaining valuable information about the locals and the movements of the Empire without anyone being any the wiser. She learned how to track, to hunt game or to avoid wandering Empire patrols. She got bolder, even entering towns on occasion to scavenge or work an odd job for someone to get a small amount of gold, using them to build more skills that might help her survive. A trapper might teach her how to set snares, or a seamstress could help her learn to sew to maintain her gear longer.

She was still lonely, her heart aching for Kristoff, for Elsa, for Heins, Cari, Alan, Leila, Baldur, even the almost mute Silas. But she had lost them all. The hurt that she felt after discovering both her sister and husband had lied to her, left her in the dark about their true intentions, about the inevitable fall of their kingdom, for weeks was a hurt that could not be put into words. Even if either of them were here, Anna wasn’t sure what she would say to them. So she traveled on.

Within a month, the Empire started taxing the citizens at exorbitant rates, supposedly in the name of securing the Empire’s future, but all that really happened were Hans’s puppet nobles grew fat and hedonistic, while people starved in the streets and on their doorsteps. Any time Anna stole food, she had to be sure that she was not consigning someone to a slow death by starvation. As gold and food flowed ever upward, callousness began to seep throughout the rest of the populace as they became more and more desperate to survive. Disputes that would have been settled with a simple discussion were now settled with the point of a sword. Thieves now required no more than a tree and a rope rather than a cell. Anyone who spoke against the Empire would be dead by the next morning. There were still good, honest people, doing the best they could to get by and to help others, but their numbers were dwindling by the day as the world became a harder and harder place. It broke Anna’s heart.

Fear kept the majority of the populace in line, but there was still an undercurrent of anger at the loss of the old world running through the land. It was in these undercurrents that Anna operated. She would show her sister and her husband that she was capable. She would take down the Empire, by herself if she had to. The more information she gathered, however, the more she realized how impossible that task was. Hans now had over a dozen magicians serving him, including the Dreamwalker, who Anna avoided at all costs. Then, one day, Anna stumbled upon the very thing that might give her a fighting chance.

It was around a year after the Fall. Anna hadn’t eaten in eight days. She had been forced to take a wide route around some villages infested by the Empire, so she was much deeper in the woods than usual. Her hunts were fruitless, her snares empty, the bushes devoid of berries. Her mind was sluggish, and her body was slow to react. Her stomach twisted in pain, and she knew that she would soon be too weak to move if she didn’t find something to eat soon. The bow she’d stolen lay unused with her full quiver. She hadn’t seen game in a week. She was just about to hunker down for the night when she spotted a figure, peering at her through the underbrush just a dozen yards from Anna.

“Hey!” Anna cried, not even caring if they were Empire. She had to get something to eat. But before Anna could say anything else, the figure turned their back to Anna and bolted into the woods. “Wait!” The figure did not wait, and Anna threw her pack and bow over her shoulder, struggled to her feet, and lurched after them on wobbly legs. “Slow down, please!” she called, but it was to no avail. She caught fleeting glimpses of her quarry, and it looked like a young girl, perhaps ten or eleven years old, barefoot, in a gray dress, with long black hair flowing behind her. Even in her sluggish mind, Anna wondered how she was able to run so quickly through the thick underbrush barefoot. Anna chased her for nearly a half mile, her breath coming in ragged gasps, her limbs aflame with exhaustion, then, not lifting her legs as much, she tripped on a tree root she hadn’t seen in time. She tumbled to the ground, landing hard on all fours, causing tiny droplets of blood to seep through her pants from scraped knees. She heaved herself back up, feeling like her limbs weighed several tons, but the girl was gone. 

“Huh?” Anna croaked, her throat dry. The girl had only been a few yards in front of her, and she had been on the ground for a mere second or two. But the girl was nowhere to be seen, nor, as Anna perked up her ears, heard. Anna looked down, hoping to track the girl, but though the ground was quite soft, she saw no footprints ahead of her own. She turned around, peering in every direction, but saw no tracks or indications of the girl’s presence, no broken twigs or telltale imprints in the mud. Had Anna hallucinated her? Was she seeing things as her brain worked slower and slower as she starved to death-

A tiny glint of light. Anna squinted in the direction it had come from, moving around to try to see the source, and as she did, she realized it wasn’t a light, not exactly. It was the moon, reflected off of something nearby. There was a house, or something like one, a short distance away. Anna staggered towards it, praying there was food inside. As she approached, she could see that that was unlikely. It was a very old building, the wood warped and rotten, the roof half collapsed. It was clear no one had been there for a long time. Still, she had to chance it. Maybe she’d get lucky and there would be something in there. She tried the door, but it was locked. Either locked, or so distorted and swollen that it was stuck. She broke in another way (a branch just happened to fall against a window, how sad), then started to rummage through the interior.

As she scavenged, she realized that she was not in a house at all, but some sort of research laboratory. The tables were piled with instruments, the use of which she could only guess at. Papers, covered in dust, littered the desks and floor, with strange symbols all over them. She didn’t recognize any of them, so she ignored them as she scoured the rest of the lab. The building was small, and only three rooms, so it didn’t take very long to find the trapdoor to the cellar, tucked in the corner of the front room. She lit a torch from her pack and peered into the dank hole, then gasped. The cellar was full of food, much of it decomposed and inedible, but a great deal of it was preserved fruits and vegetables in glass jars. She took a deep, controlled breath, then exhaled. She had to remain calm. She knew from experience that if she gorged herself right away, she would just make herself sick. It took every ounce of her (admittedly scarce) self-discipline to restrain herself, but she managed to pace herself over the next few hours, a few nibbles at a time, until she had eaten her fill. She stuffed as many jars as she could into her pack. It would never have won any culinary awards, but Anna was far past caring about that. She might have left immediately after, if it hadn’t been for one word that jumped out at her from a scrap of paper on the floor.

_ Elsa _

“Wait, what?” Anna breathed. She had learned long ago that talking to herself helped keep the loneliness at bay. A little. She crouched down, brushing the other papers aside. It wasn’t just the word  _ Elsa _ , it was a scribbled note on a torn off corner of parchment, dated over twenty years ago.

_ Elsa- Reason for strength? _ And below that,  _ Ice spirit? _

“Ice spirit? Strength?” Anna pondered, re-reading the short note half a dozen times, as though she could wrest more information out of it by sheer willpower. “The spirits are real?” She turned her attention to the rest of the room. Much of the writing in it was in a language Anna did not know. Over the next few hours, she gathered everything she could read, mostly consisting of what looked like journal entries, into a small pile in front of her, sorted by date of entry. Then she began to read.

_ King Agnarr came to see me today. His daughter had been involved in an accident. Princess Elsa’s powers had been growing, and yesterday morning, she injured Princess Anna, near fatally. He wants me to investigate. _

_ This is remarkable. Princess Elsa’s powers are unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Unlike other magicians, she cannot fully contain them. Attempting to causes a build up of power, which is released in times of stress, in ways that Princess Elsa cannot control. I have advised the King to help her learn to use her magic in safe environments, but I fear that Princess Elsa is too afraid of another accident, and I do not believe the King will heed my advice. _

_ Queen Iduna visited today. It was enlightening. She spoke of her childhood with the Northuldra. They have a stronger connection to magic than we have, and she spoke of four elemental spirits. It’s possible that her daughter has come into possession of the Ice Spirit of the Ancients, Shiva. _

_ Princess Elsa is indeed in possession of Shiva. The Ancients’ temple to Shiva is empty, and it is the only explanation I can find for her power. It is not clear how she obtained the Spirit. The legends of the Northuldra speak of a trial that must be passed, but she passed no such trial. Must investigate further. _

_ I’ve located the Ancients’ temple to Ifrit. The Fire Temple is in Corona. The King and Queen will be departing soon to see if it holds any answers. If Ifrit himself is there, then he may have answers, if he is willing to communicate, that is. _

_ The King and Queen are dead. I will continue my work for Elsa’s sake. I will go to the Fire Temple myself. _

That was the final entry, dated a few weeks after her parents’ deaths. Anna sat back against the wall. So. The Ancients she had heard stories about since childhood, were real. The spirits were real. Elsa had the power of the Ice Spirit. And her parents had died, trying to find answers. For Elsa. The one who would betray all of Arendelle, and lead them to their doom. Anger bubbled up in the pit of Anna’s stomach. That was what her parents gave their lives for?

But, more importantly… if one of the spirits was real, surely the others were too? Possibility blossomed in her mind. If  _ she  _ could gain the power of one of these spirits, she could do more. She could be what Elsa  _ should _ have been. She could kill Hans, free the land, return the kingdoms to their rightful rulers… And unlike her sister, she would not retreat. She would not betray her people. But first, she had to find a Temple, and with no other leads, the Fire Temple seemed the most within reach. She pored over the documents, trying to find a map or something that could lead her there. Another hour later, she had to admit defeat. Whoever this person was, they must have taken the map with them when they tried to find the Fire Temple. And it appeared that they, like her parents, did not return from the journey. No matter how much she searched, she could not find another journal entry. 

Over the next month, she made her way to Corona. She had become quite skilled at getting into places without being noticed, and this was no different. Once she reached the kingdom, it would be another year before she found the Fire Temple. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here we are. It's been a long, slow road, but Part III is finally done and being posted. I'm extremely proud of this saga, and this part in particular. While I am still proud of Parts I and II, I personally think III is on another level. Part I and II had character, yes, but they were pretty heavy on plot and not SO much on character. This one has much more focus on the characters and how they interact with the world, while also having my favorite storyline of the three. I've expanded the scope of the world immensely, as I think is evident in this very first chapter. That leads me to the first question I'd like to pose to you- would there be any interest in having short summaries of Parts I and II as part of this series? They would be their own, separate posts within the Darkness Among Us series on AO3, and would allow new readers to catch up to Part III right away. Comment on that, or anything else about the story, or hell, tell me how your day was- whatever it may be, I will read and respond to every single one.
> 
> I've rambled on long enough. Thank you for reading, and I sincerely hope you enjoy this last stage of Elsa and Anna's journey.


	2. After The Fall: Kristoff

While his wife was discovering the researcher’s laboratory, Kristoff was in the kingdom of Arendelle, reading a letter from one of his contacts in the Southern Isles. He, like Anna, though he didn’t know it, was working to bring the Empire down.

When Arendelle fell, and Anna walked into that dark night, Kristoff did not immediately realize that she did not intend to return. He knew that he had hurt her, perhaps unforgivably. But he didn’t think that she would abandon him without a word. He, Elsa, and Heins spent the night in the hollowed out tree that Shana had prepared for them, but none of them slept. All stayed up through the night, peering out through the small gaps in the bark, waiting for Anna’s return. No one spoke until the sun rose. When it did, Heins was sitting against the wall, his head hung low, Elsa was in the middle of the floor, her knees drawn to her chest and hugging her legs, eyes wide and panicked, and Kristoff was pacing back and forth, fear gripping his heart.

“Where is she?” Kristoff asked at last, breaking the long silence.

“I don’t know, Kristoff,” Heins sighed, raising his head. His eyes were bloodshot. The answer infuriated Kristoff, and he rounded on Elsa.

“Why didn’t you tell her?” Kristoff demanded. She did not meet his eyes, but turned away at once. “Look at me!” She did not. Kristoff seized her by the shoulders, forcing her to face him. “Look at me! Why didn’t you tell her the truth?” She said nothing, she just looked at him. Her eyes were bloodshot and faraway. Her passivity enraged him still further. “This is your fault, god dammit!”

“Hang on, Kristoff,” Heins protested, beginning to rise, even as Kristoff threw Elsa away from him. She cried out in alarm and pain, the first sound she had made in hours, and Kristoff felt a savage pleasure in having drawn it out. She hit the floor of the hollow tree, hard, then Heins was there, flinging out his arm to stop Kristoff. “Stop!” But by then, Kristoff was already shouldering the hidden door open and walking fast into the morning sun.

“Are you going to look for her?” Heins called after him.

“What the fuck do you think?” Kristoff shouted back. He heard rapid footsteps approaching. “You won’t be able to stop me, Heins,” Kristoff warned, turning to face him.

“Hadn’t planned on it. I’m coming.”

“Do what you want. What about Elsa?”

Heins glanced back, rubbing the back of his neck. “She’s hidden. She’ll be fine.”

For two days and nights they searched, but while they found some evidence of her tracks, they could not find her. 

“Kristoff,” Heins said, as they prepared to set off on the third morning. “Maybe we should get back to Els-”

“You want to go back?” Kristoff shot back, staring at Heins wide-eyed. “This is all her fault, and you think we should go back before we find Anna?”

“This isn’t her fault,” Heins sighed, looking very run down, more haggard than Kristoff had ever seen him. His eyes were sunken and hollow, and full of grief and exhaustion.

“How is it not?! I told her to tell Anna, but she never did.” Kristoff stopped and faced Heins, his fists clenched, trying to keep his temper in check. “If she had, this never would have happened.”

“And if Anna hadn’t been so stupid, it wouldn’t have happened,” Heins shot back.

“What did you just say?” Kristoff snarled, glaring at Heins.

Heins straightened up and looked directly into Kristoff’s eyes. “I said if your wife hadn’t been so stupid as to think her sister was some sort of god, this wouldn’t have happened.”

A red haze descended over Kristoff’s vision. The next thing he knew, he was charging at Heins. His arms wrapped around his middle, his legs pistoned forward and upward, lifting Heins off his feet and slamming him back down. The air shot out of Heins’s lungs as his back hit the cold ground, then Kristoff was on top of him, raining blows down on Heins’s head and shoulders. 

“You - son - of - a - bitch!” Kristoff roared, punctuating each word with a punch, then- WHAM! The world went blurry as something hard smashed into his temple. He felt Heins shove him away, then a kick to the stomach dropped Kristoff facedown into the dirt. There was one more blow to the back of the head, or so Kristoff assumed later. He didn’t feel it at the time. When he awoke, the sun was high in the sky. He had been clumsily hidden in a pile of sticks and leaves, his head had been bandaged by unpracticed hands, and Heins was gone. That was the last time Kristoff had seen Heins, or Elsa, for that matter. Neither of them had turned up dead, but Kristoff honestly didn’t know if he would care if they did. The both of them had lied to Anna, and because of them, Kristoff no longer had her. 

Having nowhere else to go, Kristoff managed to make his way back to the hollow tree, and used it as a shelter while he recovered. Twice, Empire patrols passed within thirty feet of the tree, but thanks to Shana, no one noticed the Prince hiding within. Once he had recovered, he searched far and wide for signs of his wife, but she had either died or had gotten quite adept at covering her tracks. With no other purpose to guide him, Kristoff’s rage turned towards the Empire. Soon after that, he managed to track down Gareth, or more accurately, Gareth tracked  _ him _ down. Kristoff thought he was done for when a massive grey wolf burst from the trees behind him, at least until its tail started wagging. The pair of them began building a network of contacts and spies that now spanned the entirety of the Empire, working in the shadows to bring Hans down.

But despite all the eyes at his disposal, it took him two years before he saw his wife again.


	3. After The Fall: Heins

Heins never would have left Elsa behind if he knew it would be the last time he would see her for more than two years. He never would have struck Kristoff again if he knew it would have nearly killed him. He never would have done a lot of things. As it was, he did all of them, and now he had to pay the price. He patched Kristoff up the best he could, hoping it would be enough, then hid his limp form, hoping it would be enough, then he went back to Elsa, to apologize for leaving her, hoping it would be enough. When he returned to the tree, he found no Elsa. What he did find was a note, written with a shaky hand, teardrops staining the page.

_Heins,_

_I’m sorry. Don’t look for me._

When he first read it, he chuckled. Did Elsa really expect him not to look for her? 

It stopped being funny after the first full week without a sign of her. No matter how hard he searched, or how many towns he stopped in, disguised, to ask about any unusual strangers passing through, he could find not a trace of Elsa. As the weeks stretched into a month, then two, fear crept into his heart. What if she had taken her own life? It would explain why he could not find her, and he knew she had tried before. He knew the only way to find her for sure would be to make it safe for her to reveal herself, and the only way that could happen is if the Empire fell.

Fate has a sense of timing, it was sure. The day after resolving to do all he could to topple his brother’s Empire, in an alley, in a small town near Arendelle, at the very moment he exited his hiding place, he literally bumped into one of the last people he could have ever expected.

“Oh, sorry- King Heins?” The blonde girl’s surprise was matched by his own. He clamped a hand over her mouth and forced her to the ground behind a crate.

“Shut up, you stupid girl,” Heins whispered angrily, adrenaline flooding his body, glancing around for any Empire patrols. “Do you want to get me killed?”

The girl’s green eyes were wide and fearful, but she shook her head. His body poised to silence her again, Heins removed his hand from her mouth.

“S-sorry,” Elsie whispered. 

“Quiet,” Heins commanded in a low voice. “Come here.” He grabbed Elsie’s hand and pulled her into the cellar he’d been hiding out in just moments before. Upon closing and locking the door, he grabbed Elsie’s shoulder, spinning her around and pinning her against the wall. With his other hand, he drew his knife and pressed it to her throat. Her eyes went wide and she whimpered in fear.

“How did you find me?” he asked, ready to end the girl’s life in an instant if she started screaming.

“I-I didn’t, I swear, please, King Heins, don’t kill me, please, I beg you, please,” Elsie stammered, looking petrified, beginning to cry. Heins glared at her, willing himself to not be moved by emotion. 

“You’re lying. You couldn’t have gotten out of that city unless Hans let you.”

“No, I swear, it wasn’t anything like that, please,” Elsie sobbed.

“Then explain,” Heins ordered, lowering the blade a few inches.

“I-I got out right before it was sealed. I had Baldur, remember? But I knew he’d be killed if I didn’t get him out of the city. So I took a dead soldier’s uniform and smuggled him out of the gates, pretending he was an Empire soldier.”

“Wait- Baldur lives? Still?” She nodded. Heins narrowed his eyes. “Show me.”

As it turned out, Baldur was less than two streets away. Elsie led Heins through the town with an ease he did not expect, deftly avoiding the busiest streets and wandering Empire patrols. _She must have been here since the Fall_ , Heins thought. Eventually, she opened the door to what appeared to be a shop of some sort of cloth- rugs, Heins thought, or curtains, maybe- but looked back when Heins hesitated. He cocked an eyebrow at her, but she only shrugged, very slightly.

“You’ll see.” She walked into the shop, which was small and almost deserted, save for an ancient proprietor behind the counter, bent and wizened, with large half-moon reading glasses. He heaved himself to his feet, then he spotted Elsie. “He’s with me,” she said, and the man sat back down with a disappointed huff. Elsie walked over to a rug, then flipped part of it back to reveal a trapdoor. She pulled it open and gestured for Heins to go down first, but he put his hand on his sword, glaring at her. Elsie’s face went white and she hurried down the steep steps, Heins following, closing the trapdoor and drawing his sword at the same time.

“Elsie? That you?” A young man’s voice drifted towards them from the corner of the tiny cellar, from behind some simple hangings.

“Yeah- um… I’m not alone.”

“What do you mean?” The man’s voice took on a much sharper tone, one of alarm.

“Um…”

Still expecting a trap, Heins threw the curtains back, readying his blade. Baldur was there, lying in a bed, his head and torso propped up by pillows, bloodstained bandages covering his chest and wrapping around to his back. 

“What the-”

“Quiet,” Heins ordered. “She claims she got you out of the city. Tell me how she did that.”

“What are you-”

“Do it,” Heins snarled, whipping his sword to the side to rest against Elsie’s throat once more.

“She dressed me up as a soldier! She walked me right out the fucking front gate! What the hell is wrong with you? That’s Elsie! She saved my life!” Baldur was glaring at him, and his face was red with fury. His fists were balled up in anger, and he began to sit up, despite how wounded he must still be. Heins had always thought of Baldur as the softest of the Queensguard, but right now, he would bet on Baldur against any other member. Could he be telling the truth? So much had gone wrong, could he really have just stumbled onto allies like this? Bit by bit, Heins lowered the blade. Elsie stepped back with a relieved gasp, holding her neck, as though to make sure Heins hadn’t cut it.

“I’m sorry,” Heins said, but it was so quiet that even he could barely hear it. He cleared his throat and tried again. “I’m sorry.”

Baldur did not stop glaring, but he did sit back against his pillows once more. “You’re a little short on friends to treat the ones you have with such mistrust, _Your Majesty._ ” Venom dripped from every word. 

Heins hung his head. “I know. I’m sorry, Els-”

“Not her, you dumbass. Me.”

“Huh?”

“Elsie and I both know full well you barely know her. I wouldn’t expect you to trust her on her word alone.” Elsie nodded, still clutching her neck. “But you mistrust _me?_ You stupid bastard, I’d have died for you! I almost did! Everyone else fucking _did_!” Baldur was almost screaming now, his voice breaking. “Don’t you know that? Have you forgotten already?” Baldur’s eyes bored into Heins, and his words struck like physical blows.

A deep shame filled Heins. Baldur was right, of course. He had more than proven his loyalty, ten times over. Not only that, his beloved Leila had given her life, along with Alan, Cari, and Silas, to secure his escape. And he treats the last remaining Queensguard like this.

Heins dropped to one knee, lowering his head. “Sir Baldur, I beg your forgiveness. I doubted your honor, and your loyalty. Please forgive me.”

“Oh, shut up, you idiot,” Baldur said, and Heins looked up to see that the angry glare had faded. He was not yet the good-natured Baldur Heins remembered, but it was getting closer. “Just don’t do that shit again.”

“I won’t,” Heins promised, then he turned to Elsie, still kneeling. “My Lady, I thank you for protecting this man. I’m so sorry for mistrusting you.”

“I-It’s okay,” Elsie said, averting her gaze, uncomfortable with royalty- deposed royalty, but royalty nonetheless- kneeling to her.

“No, it is not,” Heins said. “But I swear to make it right, the best that I can.” Elsie smiled, a small, hesitant smile, but a smile.

Over the next month, while Baldur recovered, Heins overheard something wonderful in a tavern, when some Empire guards had a little too much to drink, loosening their tongues. The Queensguard who remained behind to secure the escape from the castle, thought dead, were in fact alive, and being held in the dungeons of Arendelle castle. When he brought this news to Baldur and Elsie, both reaffirmed their loyalty to Arendelle, and swore to do all they could to aid Heins in his fight. Soon after, they began planning a rescue mission. They followed guards on patrol, hoping to find one they could bribe. They found one of the guards at a brothel, a guard who would rather his wife not find out about his visit. He agreed to “accidentally” leave a certain door unlocked. It wasn’t bribery, but it did the trick. Once Baldur was fit to fight, he and Heins, with Elsie’s help, snuck into the dungeons. They killed the guards there, and used their keys to free the other Queensguard. 

All were quite the worse for wear, but all were alive- Alan, Kristoff’s dark-haired doppelganger who was a master of the blade, Cari, kind-hearted and as fearsome with a bow as she was with a sword, Leila, Baldur’s smaller but much scarier girlfriend with black hair that belied the golden heart within, and Silas, the stoic, ever-loyal soldier.

From that day forward, Heins, Elsa, and the remnants of the Queensguard worked to destabilize the Empire through subterfuge, sedition, and blood, and were quite successful at all three.


	4. After The Fall: Elsa

Despite all the care they took to not be noticed, most people within the Empire knew full well that some of Arendelle’s royalty still lived. It was the world’s worst kept secret, and yet, if some traveler from a faraway country happened to pass through these lands, he could go his entire journey and never hear a word of the kingdoms that existed before the Empire. For all he could see or hear, the Empire was a benevolent force for good, beloved, keeping the peace with grace and mercy to all. But if he kept his ear to the ground, and paid close attention to his surroundings, and hung around in just the right crowds, he might hear a whisper or two, in the smoky back rooms of seedy taverns, or the private lounges in the brothel, where men’s inhibitions loosened, along with their tongues. 

He could hear of a man, who dared to protest the unjust jailing of his wife, vanishing in the middle of the night, never to be seen again. He might notice a vagrant wanderer, begging for change on the side of the street, suddenly failing to turn up to his usual place. He might even regard, with a sort of passing interest, that every citizen gave the black-clad guards a wide berth, as though the very act of approaching them was too dangerous to risk.

He might hear of Prince Kristoff, the valiant but ferocious warrior who killed as many of the Empire as twenty men. He could listen to a tale of Princess Anna, whose ferocity in combat rivaled her husband’s, but who had a heart of pure gold, who walked freely among her people, her cheer and kindness spreading joy everywhere she went. Some spoke of King Heins, whose character was so incorruptible that he fought his own kin for the good of the land, who had worked to overcome his family’s dishonor and had served his new Kingdom with respect and distinction. Some particularly reckless men might even claim to have seen one or two of them, but these sightings were rare and nearly impossible to verify. A glimpse of a shade of red hair did not a Princess Anna make. Was that tall, broad man with the messy blonde hair truly Kristoff? Or just someone who bore a passing resemblance to the Prince? How many men had actually seen the Royals up close, and still remembered what they looked like, years after their last appearance? Even still, it was possible to know, with reasonable certainty, that they were still alive, if for no other reasons that their bodies had not been paraded through the lands.

But no matter where the traveler went, or what taverns he frequented, or what seedy underbellies he ingratiated himself into, there was one whose name he would not hear. No one was foolish enough to claim to have seen her, or even dare to speak her name for fear of being associated with her. Those that were had very short life expectancies if the Empire came knocking. 

The Ice Queen. The Sorceress. No one knew what had happened to her after the Fall. No one knew if she still lived. She had not been seen nor heard of in two years. Some still hoped for her return, to use her magic to push out the corrupted roots of the Empire and restore what once was. As the months ticked by, this hope faded like a dying candle, until no hope remained, and the Empire shrouded the hearts of all.


	5. Reunions: Anna - Into the Pit

Anna’s torch flickered in the draft. Stale air of unfathomable age rushed past her as she pulled the rocks away from the small opening in the cliff face. The cold night air fluttered her hair as she worked. The tall grass surrounding her rustled in the breeze.

“How many of these damn rocks do I have to move?” Anna muttered to no one. For the first time in quite a long while, she wished she still had Kristoff. He was always so strong. He’d have no problem moving these.

“Finally…” Anna sighed as she glimpsed some gaps between the rocks. She held her torch close to the opening, peering through. She thought she could see something metal glinting on the wall, maybe ten feet away, down a stone passageway. She pulled at the rocks, not caring that her hands bled in a dozen places from cuts and scrapes. After another minute or so, an opening, just big enough for her to squeeze through, lay in front of her. She took a quick glance around, just in case something was lying in wait for her, then stuck the torch in the ground and opened the bag next to her. 

With quick, practiced movements, she strapped a sword to her belt and fastened her armor. Both had served her well, though they were nearing the end of their usefulness. The sword had begun to rust, dulled by the elements and lack of proper care, and the leather armor was thin and frayed. She wished she still had Silva, but that, like her Queensguard armor, was stashed beneath the floorboards of a house, hundreds of miles away. Not that she expected to have to fight today. If the legends were true, anything down here would have died thousands of years ago. Then again, if the legends  _ were _ true, it’s unlikely what was down here  _ could _ die of natural causes. Better be prepared the best she could.

She pulled her bag over her head, then froze, her head cocked to the side. Something was rustling in the tall grass, some ten feet to her left. She dropped to a crouch, her fingers finding one of the rocks she had just pulled from the cliff. She grabbed it, testing its weight, then hurled it towards where the sound had come from. She heard the satisfying  _ thunk _ of rock on flesh, and darted forward before her would-be assailant could recover, drawing her sword to finish the job. A second later, Anna saw nothing but a rabbit, twitching on the ground, its skull half caved in. Blood pumped out of its head, staining the gray fur with scarlet. One eye swung up at Anna, pain and fear clouding its wild gaze. 

“Humph.” Anna sheathed her blade, then brought her foot down hard on the rabbit’s already shattered skull. Blood spurted out from underneath her heel, staining the grass around the rabbit with thick crimson and lumpy gray. Pausing to wipe her foot on the grass, Anna grabbed her torch and ducked into the cave.

The tunnel was narrow, but tall. Even Heins would have been able to walk upright, so Anna had no trouble. She walked to the metal she had seen from the outside and crouched down, holding her torch close to the floor. It was metal alright, and surprisingly polished, considering how long it must have been here. A sigil, perhaps a foot across, was set into the wall, that of a diamond with three more diamonds nested inside it. Anna knelt down and reached into her bag once more. Very, very carefully, she pulled out the ancient piece of parchment within and unfolded it. A faded map lay before her. It was a cryptic collection of landmarks and symbols, which had taken months to obtain, even more to decipher. It showed the way to this very spot. Instead of a simple X to mark the location, the spot was marked with a diamond, with three more diamonds nested inside. Being sure to keep the torch well away from the parchment, she compared the symbols.

“Alright. Fire. We’re on the right track.”  _ We’re. And who are you even talking to? There hasn’t been a “We” in years _ . Ignoring the voice in her head, Anna folded the parchment with great care, tucking it back into her bag, being sure not to let it tear. She picked her torch back up and crept down the tunnel, taking slow, deliberate steps, the torch held above her, peering into the darkness, alert for anything. The air down here seemed to muffle her torchlight in the gloom, and grew ever more stale as she made her way through the tunnel.

After another minute or so, the floor vanished at the edge of a sheer dropoff. Holding her torch up, she saw that the walls and ceiling did not continue either. It was an opening on a vast cliffside, so far as she could tell. Near the edge, there was a small pedestal, bearing the same symbol for Fire. A metal brazier stood on top. She stepped around it, one hand holding it for safety, the other holding her torch, and leaned as far out of the opening as she dared. She could see nothing but the wall around the opening- no floor, no ceiling, no opposite wall. She retreated back from the edge and looked at the brazier again.

“Well… here goes nothing.” She held her torch to the scant kindling inside the brazier. Despite the fact that it had to be hundreds or even thousands of years old, it lit at once. As the fire erupted into being, a voice brushed against Anna’s mind. She did not hear it, she  _ felt _ it. It was a single voice, but it was also multitude. It was at once terrifying and calming, powerful but soft, harsh but kind.

“Welcome, Anna, Daughter of Iduna.”

“Wait, what?” Anna said, dropping the torch in surprise and taking a few steps away. She drew her blade and whipped her head back and forth, trying to locate the source of the voice.

“Down here,” the voice said, sounding amused now, and Anna saw a shape forming in the dancing flames of the brazier. It solidified into the shape of a small man a few inches tall, but as Anna looked, the shape began to grow. Anna backed up down the tunnel, her sword held in front of her, as the flames grew. The man leapt down from the brazier and continued growing, stopping when it was three feet taller than Anna. The flames that made up the shape’s body were twisting and winding; it was like watching a raging inferno captured behind glass. The shape was human enough, but Anna was pretty sure most humans didn’t have those twisted horns, like those of a ram, or those claws, almost six inches long and coming to sharp points, or those wings, large and skeletal, that loomed over his back.

“Who- what are you?” she gasped. Sweat was beginning to bead on her forehead.The beast filled the tunnel now, and while it produced no smoke, the heat was close to unbearable. The beast lowered its massive head to Anna’s, the black embers of his eyes piercing into hers. Her eyes had already dried out, and she blinked rapidly to try to moisten them, but she managed to resist the urge to look away.

“My name is Ifrit,” the beast said after a moment, and his voice ( _ voices? _ ) had taken on a more gentle tone. “Why have you woken me, Anna, Daughter of Iduna?”

“I came to ask for your help.” Ifrit smiled, and Anna shuddered as she saw the long, sharp teeth filling the firey maw. Anna thought of what it would be like to be savaged with those teeth, to be rent apart by their vicious points, to be burned alive while it happened, and had to suppress a shudder. Dread was beginning to creep into her heart, but she stood her ground. She had to.

“And what help do you seek, Anna, Daughter of Iduna?”

Anna swallowed hard. Her eyes were burning, and when she spoke, she had to fight to keep her voice from trembling. Her hands clenched at her sides. “My sister has Shiva’s power. I’ve come to ask for yours.” Ifrit’s grin widened, and Anna’s stomach churned.

“You must know that it is not that simple, child.”

“What must I do?” Anna asked, fearing the answer, but determined to see it through. Ifrit straightened up, then turned his back on her. Without another word, he dove off the edge of the tunnel, plummeting down into the darkness, the light from his fire fading almost at once. Anna cried out and ran forward, peering over the edge. She could not see any sign of Ifrit, or of anything else.

“What?” Anna muttered, blinking hard, trying to moisten her eyes, straining to see into the dark. Was she supposed to follow him? Sheathing her sword, she grabbed her torch from where she had dropped it and walked back along the tunnel, searching along the walls inch by inch to see if there was something she had missed. She scoured one side all the way back to the cave’s entrance, then the other on the way back to the brazier. She saw no marks, no gaps, no indications at all, on the smooth walls. 

When she got back to the brazier, she tossed her torch into the pit. It fell, fell, fell… then winked out of sight. Fear filled her, threatened to paralyze her. If she jumped, and there was no safe landing, she would never be seen again. They would never find her body. She would simply vanish from the face of the earth, no one ever knowing what had happened to the last princess of Arendelle. The face of Kristoff leapt unbidden to the forefront of her mind. Faced with the prospect of never seeing him again… It wasn’t as though she was unaware of the possibility, but this somehow felt more… real. This leap could not be undone, unlike her flight into the forest with Arendelle burning at her back. She couldn’t do it. She turned back away from the brazier… but then Kristoff’s face melted and twisted into the face of her sister.  _ Elsa…  _

Anna’s jaw clenched, and tears pooled in her eyes.  _ This  _ is why she had come here.  _ This _ is what had driven her for two years. To be the person for Arendelle that her sister  _ should _ have been. And to see her face when she learned that Anna- not her- had saved everyone, in the end. To show her sister that  _ she _ was strong. That  _ she _ could handle anything the world threw at her.

Anna’s legs pumped, her arms pistoned at her sides. She reached the edge of the tunnel and leapt into the unknown.


	6. Reunions: Heins - The Man in Black

“Get ready,” Heins murmured. He and the rest of the Queensguard tensed, none of them daring to even draw breath, as Hans’s carriage rumbled down the street towards them, where they lay in wait on the second floor of an old inn near the center of Arendelle. It had taken many months and very great danger to all of them to get here, and soon, they would spring the trap, killing Hans and ending his reign for good. The first few ranks of escorts passed their building. No one moved, and the tension mounted. Then, “Baldur, get ready to-”

_BOOOOM_

An explosion rocked the street. The stone bricks that made up Arendelle’s main road were flung in every direction as the ground itself erupted into flame. Heins was thrown back as the wall between him and the street was blown apart, knocking him and the rest of the Queensguard through the air. He hit the wall on the far side of the room, hard, stars exploding in his vision as his head cracked against the hard plaster. Leila smashed into him, driving the rest of the air out of his lungs in one huge _whoosh_. He collapsed to the floor, stupefied, something warm and sticky dripping into his right eye. Thick black smoke began filling the room, searing his lungs and eyes as he struggled to catch his breath.

“What the hell just happened?” Alan shouted, staggering to his feet. Heins could hear screams coming from outside, then heard another explosion, this one farther down the street, back the way Hans’s carriage had come from, followed by more screams of pain and confusion. The whole building shook, and Heins felt his stomach churning at the motion. Large chunks of the ceiling were beginning to fall. Baldur and Silas were shaking their heads, eyes dazed and unfocused. 

“On your feet!” Cari screamed, pulling Heins up by the forearm. His head was splitting, and his vision blurred, and Cari had her hands on his shoulders. “We have to move!” She let go of him and hauled Leila up, slipping under her shoulder and supporting most of her weight. On the other side of Heins, Alan was pulling Silas up. Heins shook his head, and it cleared, just a little, but it was enough. Baldur was still trying to get up, and Heins hoisted him, throwing Baldur’s arm over his shoulder. A third explosion rocked the air, and Heins staggered to the side, barely keeping his feet under him, as part of the floor gave way, giving the room an unsettling melted look. Through the gap where the outer wall had been, Heins glimpsed a black cloaked man, advancing along the street, killing any guards who still lived, either by sword or- to his horror- fire. _Who is that?_

“Move!” Alan yelled, thundering out of the doorway into the hall, dragging Silas with him. Cari followed close behind with Leila, and Heins brought up the rear, pulling Baldur along, who it looked like was starting to get his bearings. Another explosion rocked the building, sending the six of them stumbling into the wall, running along it with their shoulders for balance. They stormed down the hallway and to the stairs, and by this point, the dazed members had begun moving of their own accord. The group reached the bottom of the stairs and tore for the back door, on the other side of the building from the black cloaked man. 

“What’s happening?!” the inn’s elderly proprietor cried, running to the front of the lobby to look out of the window.

“GET BACK!” Heins bellowed, but it was too late. The ceiling above the man collapsed. He had only milliseconds to look up, his face contorted with shock, before he was buried in his own inn’s second story. The rest of the ceiling began to buckle. “GET OUT!”

Alan lowered his shoulder and charged straight into the back door, which burst open in a shower of wood and splinters. He bounced off the far wall of the narrow alley, then turned right and sprinted down the street, and the rest of the Queensguard followed as the inn crumbled behind them-

“LOOK OUT!” Leila screamed, as the building to Alan’s right listed dangerously to the left. The stones of the foundation crumbled, then gave way. Alan would have been killed had Silas not jerked backward, dragging Alan with him as they both fell. 

“Other way!” Heins bellowed, turning around and sprinting as fast as his numb legs would allow back up the alley. He could hear the Queensguard hot on his heels as he rounded the corner and burst out onto the main road, then jumped back into Baldur just in time to avoid a column of flame erupting along the street, which was now spotted with craters. He looked towards where Hans’s carriage was, and saw the man in black cut down three more soldiers, two with fire, one with steel. Beyond that, Heins saw the door to Hans’s carriage open, and the King himself stepped down, looking like this was no more than a mere scuffle, rather than the apocalyptic warzone Arendelle had become. He waved his hand almost lazily at the man in black, and dozens of loose bricks went hurtling towards him. The man crouched down and punched the ground, causing flames to erupt around him, the force of the blast so strong that the bricks were knocked aside. He thrust a fist out, and a jet of flame shot from his hand towards Hans, who deflected it with a lazy gesture, sending it into a building to his left, causing it to erupt in flames. Heins could hear screams from within.

“This is our chance!” Baldur said, drawing his blade. “While he’s distracted!”

“No!” Leila cried, leaping forward to drag Baldur away. “It’s too dangerous!” Just then, Hans raised his hand, then jerked it to the left. The man in black followed Hans’s gaze just in time to see the building on that side reduced to rubble, all of it falling towards him. He dove out of the way, coming back to his feet in a roll and directing a lasso of fire towards Hans.

“Time to go!” Heins ordered. He was torn, part of him knew that they may never get a chance like this again, the other part knew that it was too likely that they would all perish in a fight like this, and if Hans was not dead at the end of it, then all was truly lost. Baldur let out a cry of frustration, but sheathed his blade, and the Queensguard fled up the street, joining a throng of people desperate to get away from the destructive battle.

There was another great crash behind them, and Heins chanced a look over his shoulder. He saw an explosion, sending rubble through the air, followed by the man in black, who smashed through a window on the second story of what looked like a tavern. Hans followed, leaping up to the balcony in a single bound, then strode into the room. Heins was just about to turn around to help- consequences be damned, he _had_ to do something, Baldur was right- when Hans came flying back out of the building, the front of his robes smoking. He hit the building opposite, spread eagled, then fell to the ground. The man in black, who Heins could now see wore a black masquerade ball mask in addition to the black armor and hood, jumped down to street level as Hans regained his feet, and the battle resumed.

“Come on!” Silas yelled, and it was his perpetually unfamiliar voice that snapped Heins back to the present moment. He had slowed down without realizing it, enraptured by the battle of magic raging behind him. He turned back away and ran up the street as fast as he could, following the Queensguard, away from Hans, and away from the man in black. As they tore through the streets, following the crowd for a while, then peeling off to head for their fallback point, one thought echoed in Heins’s mind. _Who is the man in black?_


	7. Reunions: Anna - The Trial of Ifrit

She fell. She fell through darkness, and cold, and emptiness. She fell for a long time.

Without warning, fire rushed up to meet her, and a scream tore from her lips. There was no safe landing, and she was going to die. Either burn to death, or land on whatever floor there might be and break, bone and blood and life leaving her forever-

She hit the fire, and agony exploded along every nerve in her body. Her screams- was she still screaming?- seemed to come from all around her, as though the fire itself screamed with her. And through the timeless agony, she fell. The fire twisted around her, and some part of Anna’s mind protested. Shouldn’t her nerve endings have died by now? Why was she still in agony? She fell.

“- **YOU ARE NOT WORTHY, ANNA, DAUGHTER OF IDUNA-** ”

The voice exploded inside her head, cutting through the agony, but not reducing it, oh no, that was still as strong as ever as the flames lapped at her, hungrily feeding on her flesh, but never satiating, and Anna’s screams continued. Her body twisted, contorting with the pain, every muscle in her body crying out as they burned. But there was something else, something crawling its way into her mind, shoving some small part of the agony aside.

_ Yes I am _

“ **-YOU COULD NEVER BE WORTHY-** ”

The fire began to burrow within her, not content to feast on her limbs, snaking its way into clenched eyes, into her ears, into her mouth, down into her lungs, around her  _ heart _ .

_ I am worthy _

“ **-FOOLISH GIRL, YOU ARE TOO WEAK TO HARNESS THIS FIRE-** ”

And the agony continued, intensifying as it dug deeper, blinding her to the inferno, deafening her to her own screams, choking her with its tendrils, cutting the screams short-

_ I am not weak _

“ **-THEN PROVE IT-** ” 

A fire within Anna took root and started to grow, not the fire from outside, but from within, taking root within her heart, and rage, rage unlike any she had ever felt, filled her soul. The pain was still there, oh yes, but it was shrinking, compressing down into a corner of her mind as the rage grew and grew.

“ **-WHAT ARE YOU DOING-** ”

More faces formed, one after the other, in Anna’s shattering consciousness. Heins, standing by while Elsa lied. Elsa herself, pretending she had a plan to save Arendelle while plotting to betray it. Kristoff, who let her remain in ignorance. The anger in her heart was growing, growing. The Dreamwalker, whose power had allowed Hans to rise. Hans.

Hans.

Hans.

Hans.

The fire was out of control now. It spread out further and further, pushing back the fire surrounding her, but the agony did not end. It increased. She was burning from the inside, she  _ was _ the fire, it was consuming her. She was as the last leaf on the tree as the autumn winds whipped around her. Soon, she would have to let go.

_ No! _

Another face formed. A young woman, with strawberry blonde hair and teal eyes, freckled. She looked so, so, weak. Fragile. Naive. Stupid. Just a child, pretending to be an adult. 

_ NO! _

The swirling storm inside Anna peaked, and a new scream tore from her lips- not of pain, but of rage, and hatred, and fear. She felt a power, an immense, terrible  _ power _ , building within her. She had to release it or it would destroy her.

“ **_AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!_ ** ”

Heat coursed down her limbs as the power flung her arms wide, flowing fast from the rage and being expelled into the endless void in terrible spirals. She could no longer feel the fire’s cruel bite, and even as she opened her eyes once more, she could see that she  _ was  _ the fire. The flames she had fallen into had gone. Replacing it was a twisting conflagration of Anna’s own making, pouring from her body in long torrents and coiling around her.

“- **YES, CHILD, THAT’S IT** -”

The flames stopped. Everything stopped. Anna was floating in the endless void. In front of her was the shape of Ifrit, but massive- hundreds, no, thousands of feet tall, his gargantuan wings beating, each the size of a castle, his eyes bigger than all of Anna, his horns massive twisted spikes, wreathed in flame.

“- **TAKE MY POWER, ANNA, DAUGHTER OF IDUNA** -”

Anna’s head grew foggy, and she lost consciousness almost at once. The last thing she was aware of was a savage sense of satisfaction.

_ I did it. _


	8. Reunions: Kristoff - A Report

“Wait, say that again?” Kristoff asked, staring in disbelief at the man standing in front of him, who just seconds ago had been a bird. 

“The King was attacked, Kristoff. In Arendelle.” For all the time they had been on the run, Gareth maintained his overly formal demeanor. Though things like “Your Highness” were all but a death sentence now, he still spoke and groomed as though he were among the highest nobility. His mustache was neat and trimmed, not a whisker out of place, and his hair was kept short. Kristoff, on the other hand, looked like he had forgotten what a razor was. His beard was wild and unkempt, his hair tangled and unwashed. He spent most of his time, though he didn’t know it, very much like his wife spent hers- constantly on the move, sleeping under the stars more often than not, only daring to venture into towns to gain information, steal food, meet contacts. 

“He was ambushed, as a matter of fact,” Gareth continued. “By a magician.”

Kristoff sat down on a tree stump, near the center of his small camp, deep in the forest. He surveyed Gareth, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he did so. “How do you know?”

“One of my most trusted sources, in addition, I saw the aftermath,” Gareth answered, sitting down opposite Kristoff, near the smoking remains of last night’s campfire. Kristoff nodded. While Gareth and Kristoff shared all the information they obtained, neither of them knew all the sources of the other, in case one of them was captured. Both of them trusted the other’s judgement, and it was all that had kept them alive for two years. If Gareth said it happened, Kristoff could be sure it happened.

“What kind of magic?”

“Fire, according to my source, and judging from the wreckage, I would assess that as accurate.”

Kristoff frowned, running a hand over his beard. He’d seen that power before, the fire warrior on the fields of Corona. Elsa had thought she managed to kill him then, but could he be back? But then, if it were him, why would he go after Hans? Kristoff shook his head. That didn’t seem likely. So a new magician? 

“What happened to Hans? Or the magician?”

Gareth shrugged. “Both unknown, though I know Hans survived at least. My source didn’t see the end of the battle, just the beginning. The King was returning to the castle after a visit to Corona.” Kristoff nodded. Hans liked to travel through the Empire, lording over all he had conquered. “It happened soon after the convoy entered the city. There was an explosion which killed most of the guards. Then a hooded figure, garbed in black, appeared and began fighting the remaining guards, but they didn’t stand much of a chance.” Gareth swallowed, his composure showing the slightest cracks. “He’s the one who was controlling the fire, and… well, you saw what that soldier did in Corona.” Gareth remembered the man too, it seemed.

Kristoff sighed and looked up. The morning sun was beginning to wink through the trees. “What then?”

Gareth cleared his throat, shaking off the memories. “Hans came out of his carriage, and after that, it got too dangerous to stay nearby. My source had to flee for his life. And,” Gareth said, leaning forward, a shadow crossing his face. “I’ve never seen destruction like that. The streets were torn apart, buildings smashed as though by giants. Fires were still burning everywhere, even two days later. Hans has grown stronger. Much stronger than we thought. And the fire magician…” Gareth’s eyes became unfocused as he thought of what he had seen. With a small shake, he returned to himself. “His power scares me. He _melted stone_ , Kristoff.”

“We need to find him,” Kristoff said. “If he’s going after Hans, that means he’s on our side-”

“I’m afraid not,” Gareth cut across. “It just means he’s not on Hans’s side. There’s a difference.”

Kristoff bowed his head, conceding the point, but then continued, “That may be, but the enemy of my enemy is my friend. We may be able to use him, at least. Do you think you can find him?”

Gareth looked thoughtful. “I don’t know. Assuming he survived the fight, I don’t have any way of locating him. I think all we can do is wait. Hans still lives, so it’s safe to assume he’ll try again. Perhaps I should tail Hans until he does?”

Kristoff gave a sharp nod, then said, “I’m going to Arendelle. You can find me there if you need me. Before you go, think you could find me a deer?”

Gareth scowled, but then fur sprouted from his face and arms. His face pushed out, his lips peeled back, exposing lengthening teeth. He fell to all fours as he continued to change, and seconds later, a wolf stood in front of Kristoff, the same one that had once ripped out a soldier’s throat, a mere fraction of a second before he drove his sword through Kristoff’s chest. The wolf put his nose to the ground and sniffed, then circled the camp, smelling as he went. After two laps around the small camp, his tail started to wag, then shrink as Gareth turned back into himself. He had gotten much faster with his changes over time, and it never failed to fascinate Kristoff to watch the wolfish features blend and twist gruesomely into place, forming the face and body of Gareth.

“Half a mile that way,” Gareth said, pointing in the direction of the rising sun, already beginning to shift into the eagle he so favored. “Group of deer. Should have no trouble.”

“Aww, you couldn’t go get them for me?” Kristoff asked, grinning. Gareth glared at him, but whatever reply he would have given came out as a twisted sort of moan as his lips hardened and pushed out into the beak of the eagle. He finished his transformation, then ruffled his feathers in a dignified sort of way. With another glance at Kristoff, he took off, and Kristoff went into the woods to get himself something to eat. A deer was overkill for now, but he could stay here for the night, smoke it, and not have to worry about food for the trip to Arendelle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now is as good a time as any to point something out. With both Parts I and II, I tried to keep a consistent chapter order. While I don't really regret that decision, I decided to forgo that this time. Some characters have more chapters than others, and sometimes they'll have several in a row. I will say that nearly 100% of the chapters are done from the points of view we've had before, those being Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, and Heins, but there are a few that are from a couple OC's perspectives, hopefully not to excess, but the world is pretty damn big at this point and there's quite a few important characters now. Either way, those don't come until further down the line. For now, we get a whole lot of our main cast. Except Elsa. I wonder when she'll show up...


	9. Reunions: Anna - Discovery

Anna woke abruptly, her eyes flying open. She saw a clear, cold night sky above her. She sat up at once, her eyes darting around, peering into the darkness. She was in a field. Tall grass brushed over her skin as it swayed in the breeze. A  _ lot _ of her skin. Anna looked down. Most of her clothing was gone, and what scraps of her leather armor still covered her were burned and blackened beyond recognition. What was left was enough to preserve her modesty- barely- but was not enough to prevent Anna from being able to take a good look at herself, something she had taken to avoiding. 

Her pale legs stretched out on the grass before her, even skinnier than they had been in Arendelle. All traces of fat had been stripped away by long days and meager food, leaving little but skin, bone, and knobby knees. Though her chest was still covered by her breastplate (mostly), she could see her ribs all down her side, each one a painful reminder of all she had lost. Her body was striped with scars now, some from blades, some from more mundane things- the scar that stretched across her right bicep was from a snare that backfired. Anna was not a vain person, on the whole, but she couldn’t help but feel a sinking feeling as she looked at her body. It exacerbated her loneliness to see how ruined she had become. She shook her head and pushed the feeling aside.

_ The ribbon! _ Panicked, Anna reached into the inner pocket of her leather chestplate, pulling out the blue ribbon. It had been singed a little on one end, but was, on the whole, fine. She sighed, replaced it in the pocket, then glanced around. Anna saw nor heard anything living, and she had gotten quite adept at observing her surroundings. She started to climb to her feet, but fell to one knee, clasping a hand to her head as it throbbed with sudden, intense pain. It felt as though someone was stomping on her brain with every beat of her heart.

She put her fingers to her temples and rubbed in soft circles, her eyes closed, trying to soothe the pounding. After a few moments, her headache subsided, just a little, but enough for her to open her eyes and examine her surroundings more closely. She glanced back where she had been lying, looking for her sword or her bag, and gasped. Neither the blade nor the satchel were anywhere to be seen, but the grass underneath where her body had been was blackened and burned, in an imperfect, but recognizable, silhouette of her form. She stared at the spot, her mouth agape, her mind working overtime to catch up. She had found the Fire Temple. At least, she thought she did. She must have, right? Trying to remember was like trying to hold on to a dream as it slipped away in the morning sun. What had happened? There was a fog in her mind, and she started to get angry at its stubborn refusal to yield. She went into a tunnel, right? Then there was a lamp, or something. Had she lit it? Wait, no, she had thrown her torch somewhere. How could she have lit anything? And… wait, no, had she done that after?

Anna scowled and knelt down, her hands on her head, trying to remember… she had found the Fire Temple. She was reasonably sure of that. She  _ thought _ she had done something else with a lamp… no, it was a brazier. But past that, the fog obscured all other details. She knew they were there, but the fog did not lift.

“Why can’t I remember?” Anna growled, then a whiff of burning grass entered her nostrils. She opened her eyes to see that the patch of grass underneath her bare feet was smoking, and flames were creeping outward. “Wait, what?” Anna breathed. “Did… did I?”

She held her hands out, looking at her palms. Did it work? Did she have the Fire Spirit now? If she did… how the hell was she supposed to work it? Anna thought hard. How did Elsa do her magic? With some trepidation, Anna took a stance she had seen Elsa take many times before, then waved her hands around like she had seen her sister do, trying to make... whatever it was, do... whatever it did.

Nothing happened. Anna dropped her hands, dejected. Over the next fifteen minutes, she tried moving in every single way she could remember her sister conjuring the snow, but her only reward was a growing frustration.

“Come ON!” Anna shouted, stamping her foot. At once, a burst of fire erupted from underneath her foot. She squealed in alarm and jumped backwards, toppling to the ground as her other foot dropped into a small hole. To her surprise, though it made sense when she thought about it, her foot was not burned. Elated, she got to her feet and stamped again. Nothing. No flame.

“Ookay…” Anna mumbled, dropping down onto the grass with an exasperated sigh. “At least I know I got the power, but first things first. Where am I?” She peered up at the sky, tracking the stars, examining the landscape, trying to work out her location. No good. While she now knew which direction was north, the landscape was just a flat grass plain, stretching past the horizon. Without a sextant, she couldn’t determine where she was from the sky.

“Well… shit.” Anna frowned. No bag, no shoes, no weapon, magic she did not understand nor could she hope to control, no sense of where she was, no shelter, and no idea what to do or where to go. Not to mention, she was parched. Well, that she could take care of. She knelt down, examining the ground in the light of the nearly full moon. She found what she was looking for within just a few minutes- deer tracks. She set off following them, pausing every few minutes to strain her ears. To her delight, she began to hear bubbling water less than an hour after she awoke, and arrived at a small stream cutting through a slight depression in the plains. She still had many problems to solve, but at least now she wasn’t thirsty. She took a moment to soothe her stinging feet in the cool water (walking barefoot through the wild was not her favorite activity), then settled down in the grass and closed her eyes, intending to wait until morning to solve the others.

Twenty seconds later, she sat back up. It was no use. Her mind was racing, bursting with enthusiasm. With this power, she could save everyone. She could kill Hans and restore Arendelle to glory. She could avenge all those who had fallen to keep her alive, make their sacrifice worth it. She just had to find out how to control this power. She took several deep breaths, calming her frantic thoughts. _In... Out... In… Out…_ _Okay._ She held out her hands, looking at her palms, tensing her muscles, _willing_ the flames to come, just to flicker between her fingers. Nothing. Maybe she needed a target for the power. She looked at a small patch of grass, then held out her hand, palm forward, thinking of nothing but lighting the patch ablaze. Nothing. But wait, was that true? The patch didn’t burn, no, but Anna felt something stir in her mind, something… bright, something powerful. It was like… Well, it wasn’t like anything Anna had ever experienced. It felt like there was another mind, within hers, straining to get out. All she had to do was open the barrier. Anna closed her eyes and knelt forward, pressing her forehead to the grass, her hands over her ears, trying to shut out all distractions, searching her consciousness for that small, bright light.

Though Anna was not destined to be queen, like her elder sister was, she still had a great many classes as a young girl, just in case she ever needed to succeed her parents’ firstborn. Perils of being the Spare, she supposed. She had always hated these classes. Her tutors were strict and made for poor company, and the topics she learned about, statecraft, court etiquette, different countries and kingdoms and the leaders of each, could never hold her interest. She much preferred to watch the clouds, or paint, or chase butterflies in the garden. Still, Anna was nothing if not eager to please. It always did make her happy when her father would compliment her after the tutors would provide their reports of her progress, but it had not come naturally to her. She had become good at searching through the recesses of her mind for a fact, a figure, a name, a date, that she had only half paid attention to at the time. It was that skill that she used now, poring over her mind, searching for the slightest abnormalities that might indicate where that small, bright light was coming from.

She rifled through her memories, discarding them when she did not feel that power, that slight irregularity she had felt for the briefest moment. Happy memories, of happier times, flashed through her mind, but they did not contain that bright light. Neither did her sad memories… at first. But wait, there was something there. Something below the sadness, something… else. She thought of her sister, and there was sadness there, yes, but not  _ only  _ sadness. There was love there, too, and longing, and regret, and… anger. She tried to sort out these emotions, focusing on them one at a time, trying to find that light- and there it was. Buried under her anger at her sister was the small corner of her mind that contained… power. She dove into it, but it did not yield. It was as though she was trying to break through glass three feet thick. She pounded on it with all her might, but it didn’t crack.  _ Come on! _ She breathed hard, her eyes screwed up tight in concentration. She started to embrace the anger, and she could feel the barrier weakening. A new memory floated to the surface, one of falling, and fire, and rage. It was the way she had earned her power, and it was the way to use it. She threw herself into the raging torrent of fury, and the force of her will shattered the glass, which had become as thin as a bubble. 

Anna gasped, as the bright light flooded her consciousness. She opened her eyes, looking down at her hands, and flames danced around her fingertips and brushed along her forearms. She leaned into the feeling, memorizing this feeling, where that light was in her mind, focusing on it, and the flames grew brighter and hotter, beginning to scorch the grass. She drew away from the light, and the flames dimmed.  _ Yes! _

The fires were there, but they were aimless, formless, swirling around her hands without purpose. She concentrated, willing the flame to a single point. The flames flickered, then coalesced, focusing into a small match flame on the tip of her right index finger. She stared at it, feeling the power flowing through her, from her mind, through her heart, down her arm, and into that flame. Keeping her concentration on the light, she tried to will the fire to dance from one finger to the other. At first, nothing happened, then she felt the power divert in the webbing between her index and middle fingers, as though a river had been redirected with a dam, and the fire on her index finger winked out, then reappeared in the blink of an eye, on her middle. She practiced this for a few minutes, dancing the flame from one finger to the other, skipping fingers, flicking it to the opposite hand, familiarizing herself with that light, that feeling, that power. 

She tried turning it on and off, and had some success, though it took her a minute to find the bright corner of her mind the first time, she was able to get it down to just a few seconds. After that, she tried setting small, controlled flames in the grass, near the water, just in case she lost control or the fire started to spread. She soon learned that while she could light things on fire just fine, putting them out was another matter. If she lit a branch on fire, it took a long time and a great deal of effort to extinguish it. She practiced for a long time, but the longer she practiced, and the more frustrated she got, the  _ worse _ she seemed to get at extinguishing the flames, but the better she got at conjuring them.

“Oh no…” Anna moaned. She recognized what was happening. Just like how Elsa’s fear caused her to lose control of her powers, so too would Anna’s anger. Good thing she had endless patience and the serenity of a saint. Anna snorted, unable to even think a thought like that without laughing. This was going to be tough. But… A vicious smile spread across her face. Soon… so very, very soon, she would be ready. And Hans would die.


	10. Reunions: Heins - Retreat

Heins held his breath, tensing his body as Empire soldiers moved around above him, rifling through drawers and upending tables. Heins, along with the rest of the Queensguard, were lying under the floorboards of a house near Arendelle’s castle, owned by an Arendellian Loyalist, Hector. 

“We know they’ve been here!” 

There was a thud and a grunt of pain. A drop of Hector’s blood dripped onto his cheek through a tiny crack in the floorboards. He saw another droplet form, more of his blood bulging out from the bottom of the wood, until…  _ drip _ . Heins clenched his jaw as more of Hector’s blood stained him.

“Where are they?”

“P-please, I don’t know,” came a thick voice, wheezing through a broken nose.

“Liar!” There was another thud.

“I swear, I don’t know!”

“Then you’re no good to me, are you?” Heins heard a blade being drawn. He felt Baldur begin to shift, and shot a warning glance at him. Baldur met his gaze, his eyes full of fire.

_ No,  _ mouthed Heins, shaking his head. Baldur stared at him, and for what had certainly only been a few seconds but that felt like hours, Heins wasn’t sure if he would obey. Then he relaxed, the anger fading in his eyes- not gone, but subdued, at least for the moment.

“No, please!” Hector screamed, and there was a wave of laughter.

“We’re not gonna kill you, don’t worry,” a soldier said, still chuckling.

“Yeah, that’s no fun,” another added.

“Hope you like chains, my friend,” said a third, “because you’re going to be in them until you either decide to tell us where they are, or die. And believe me, I don’t care which you choose.”

More laughter, then Heins heard Hector being dragged out of the house, the laughter fading, fading… gone. Heins felt Baldur start to get up, and grabbed his arm. He held out one placating hand, imploring Baldur to stand down. It took a moment, but Baldur relaxed again, looking angry and frustrated. Heins waited for another twenty minutes before daring to move again, just in case any soldiers had stuck around waiting to see if anyone came out of hiding after the group of them had moved off. When he was reasonably sure they all would have left, Heins signaled to Silas, who nodded and lifted the floorboards above him. He sat up just enough to see, and Heins saw his head turn from side to side as his eyes swept the room above. He signaled to Heins that it was safe, then moved the rest of the floorboards out of his way and stood up. The rest of the Queensguard followed suit. Heins felt a dull anger rise in his stomach when he saw Hector’s blood splattered all over the room, but it was nothing compared to Baldur’s rage.

“We have to save him,” Baldur was saying, far too loudly, pacing back and forth, his tone frantic. “We can’t just let him-”

“Keep your voice down,” Alan hissed. “We can’t risk-”

“I don’t care! We-”

“Calm down, Baldur,” Heins ordered. Baldur glared at him. “Get a grip. We can’t save everyone. All we can do is keep fighting, and make their sacrifice worth it.”

“He’s right,” Leila said in a low voice, taking Baldur’s hand, and he seemed to relax a little at her touch, still looking furious, but no longer pacing. Leila looked at Heins. “We need to go. It’s not safe anywhere in the city.”

“It’s not safe anywhere,” Alan muttered, to general agreement, before a tapping at the window shocked them all into silence. Silas and Alan whirled around, blades at the ready. Baldur and Leila leapt aside, drawing their own weapons, clearing the way for Cari’s bow, but she did not draw it. She was just looking at the window with a bemused expression. An eagle ruffled its feathers, perched on the windowsill, looking at Heins with an expectant tilt of its head. 

“Gareth,” Heins murmured, hurrying to let him in. The eagle hopped to the floor and promptly began to change, and within a few seconds, Gareth was standing in the room, looking around at everyone with exhausted and concerned eyes.

“So what the hell happened to you guys?” he asked.

Heins waved a dismissive hand. “Never mind that. Good timing, we need to get out of here. Can you lead us?” Gareth nodded and started to change at once. Fur sprouted from his face as he fell forward onto all fours. His ears slid up his head and formed into triangular points, and long teeth sprouted from his mouth. In a few moments, a magnificent Husky panted in front of Heins. He pawed open the door, then stuck his nose out, sniffing and turning his head left and right. Appearing satisfied, he shouldered the door the rest of the way open and set off down the street at a trot, his nose low to the ground, every once in a while pausing at forks to sniff the air before setting off again. 

The city was a ruin. Craters pockmarked the roads. What seemed like half of the buildings had severe damage, up to and including partial collapse, and even the ones that still stood were blackened and scorched. Heins was equal parts horrified and awestruck at the devastation. He wasn’t sure if even Elsa was capable of this level of destruction- but then he thought of that night in the camp, the day Anna had arrived to save her sister, the raw, terrible power of his wife ( _ is she even alive? _ ) laid bare, and Heins suppressed a shudder. Whoever this magician was, he appeared to be at least as powerful as Elsa- if he had managed to survive, that is. Gareth led them deftly through the wreckage of Arendelle, and soon, they had come upon one of the less guarded exits to the city. One distraction and an ambush later, the Queensguard stopped at one of their many hideouts dotted across the country, this one a cave in the mountains near Arendelle.

Over the next few minutes, as they sat in a huddled group, the Queensguard filled Gareth in on what had happened in hurried whispers. “So what did you see?” Heins asked Gareth, once they had finished their tale.

Gareth sighed. “Nothing useful, I’m afraid. I didn’t get here until it was over, but from the look of the city… I’m just glad you’re all alive.”

“Us too,” Alan said. “It’s a damn good thing that other magician attacked when he did. If he hadn’t have, and we’d have tried our plan…” He broke off. Heins knew he was right. Hans had grown far too powerful for a simple ambush to have a hope of killing him. “So you didn’t see if the other magician survived?”

Gareth shook his head. “Nor Hans, but… I think they both survived. Before I found you guys, I think I got an idea of where the battle went. The part I think it ended in… Either they both died, or they both lived, and I’m guessing they lived.” He shrugged. “I can’t be sure, it’s just a feeling.”

“I think they both survived too,” Cari agreed. “Their power…” She shivered. “It seems hard to believe either of them  _ could _ be killed.”

Gareth glanced up at the sun, then stood up. “I need to get back. I have a report to make.”

Heins raised an eyebrow. “Still working for your ‘friend’?” Gareth nodded, looking uncomfortable. “Why won’t you tell me who he is?”

“It’s safer this way.” 

“Wait!” Heins called as Gareth turned around. He looked back at him, and Heins could see pity in his eyes.

“I’m sorry, Heins. I haven’t found her.” With that, he shrank into the eagle and took off, soaring into the darkening sky.


	11. Reunions: Anna - Duel

Anna wasn’t as scared as she thought she would be. When she thought of the last time she had seen Hans, when he had driven his sword through Captain Raston’s chest and killed the rest of her friends in the Queensguard, the old grief and sorrow still rose to the surface, but the terror was absent now. Instead of that sinking feeling of fear, she felt a rising tide of anger and determination. She took several deep breaths, trying to calm down. The determination was great. The anger- not  _ as _ helpful, not in the amounts coursing through her now. She was in Arendelle, after all, and if she lost control, she was liable to destroy the entire city.

The first few ranks of soldiers passed over her hiding place in the storm sewers of Arendelle, and Anna heard no shifts, no subtle changes in pace that would indicate they had noticed anything. Though the tiny, almost invisible crack in the stones above her, she could see a clear blue sky, then the black uniform of an Empire soldier, then sky, uniform, sky, uniform, sky. As the sixth rank of Hans’s escorts passed over, Anna clenched her jaw, concentrating hard on that bright corner of her mind where the magic lay. She pierced the barrier almost effortlessly, feeling the light and fire fill her mind, then spill out of her, coalescing at the tips of her fingers and clawing its way up her arms. She knelt down, willing the fire to surround her, and the fire obeyed, building in power and intensity all the while. It grew and grew until it was blinding, and then Anna released it. A scream tore unbidden from her lips as the inferno exploded out of her with the force of a thousand barrels of gunpowder. 

The street above Anna was rent apart, sending black garbed men and bricks flying in all directions. She drew her blade and leapt to street level with three nimble hops up the scattered debris. Her foot came down on the edge of some loose bricks, sending her stumbling to the side, but she recovered in an instant, glancing around. Some small part of her noted with a vague interest the vast destruction she had already wrought

( _ this is already too much _ ) 

but there was more to be done, so she shoved the notion aside. As some of the soldiers in front of her- the ones still living, anyway- rallied towards her, Anna concentrated again. It was much harder to do at a distance, but a few seconds later, she screamed again, a ferocious, feral sound, as the street behind them, near Hans’s carriage, erupted in flame, knocking the soldiers off balance. In a flash, Anna was among them, her blade singing, whirling around in a cruel dance, dealing death with every stroke of her sword. More soldiers came from behind her, but, now fully embracing the adrenaline rush of combat, she blew the street apart once more with just a thought, the force of the blast knocking a nearby building askew. 

( _ stop you’re destroying Arendelle _ )

Another soldier, still living, tried to flee, and Anna raised her arm, meaning to kill him with a precise jet of flame, but the street exploded instead

( _ you didn’t even mean to do that you’re losing control get it together _ )

and Anna turned back around to see Hans stepping down from his carriage, and Anna’s mind was wiped blank with fury. She killed two more survivors with fire, the angry Spirit within her roaring with delight at their terrible screams, then struck down another with her sword. It was as though she was watching herself fight from outside her own body. She was aware of just one thing. Her target was here, and she would kill him.

Hans made a sidearm throwing motion, and a group of bricks whistled through the air towards Anna. Without conscious thought, she dropped to one knee and slammed her fist into the ground, sending a wave of heat and force out from her core, knocking the bricks aside. Hanging on to that fire, she twirled it around and whipped it out towards Hans, racing towards him in a spiral. He deflected it with a movement so casual it bordered on lazy, causing the building next to him to go up in flames in an instant.

( _ get it together you worthless BITCH kill him kill him KILL HIM _ )

He raised his hand and gestured at a building to Anna’s left, and she could  _ feel  _ the magnitude of the power rushing past her as she leapt aside. The stones from the collapsing building missed her by inches, the area where she had just been now buried under thousands of pounds of stone debris. She managed to roll back to her feet, conjuring a lasso made of writhing flame, launching it at Hans, wrapping it around his-

Anna was blasted off her feet, the lasso wisping into harmless smoke, her sword tearing out of her grip, as the pile of rubble that had so recently been a building erupted, not in flames, but in pure concussive force. She flew through the air, smashing through a second story window and collapsing against the far wall in a clumsy heap. Her head was spinning, and she lay there, panting hard, trying to find her breath. She heard Hans land lightly on the floor by the broken window, and Anna’s rage blinded her. 

“Hello again, An-”

Hans’s condescending greeting was cut short by another blast of fire, Anna’s heart overflowing with anger and fueling the flames still further. The force knocked Hans back out the window, all the way across the street, where he crashed into the building on the far side. Anna got to her feet and followed, jumping down to face him, just as he struggled to stand up. Anna noted, with a savage glee, that Hans… was  _ bleeding _ . He could be hurt. And if he could be hurt… he could be killed. The thought invigorated her, but then, Anna felt her legs constrict, as though they had been clamped in vises. A horrible feeling of deja vu gripped her, a vision of Rapunzel’s blood pouring down her front, Anna helpless to do anything-

( _ stop him now he’ll kill you _ )

“No!” she screamed, and sent another jet of flame at Hans. He put up his hand and knocked the fire away, but as he did, Anna felt the constriction lift. She had to keep him off balance. She snatched up her sword from where it had fallen and rushed towards Hans, using steel and fire in equal measure, constantly driving forward, carving a path of devastation through the city from their combined powers. All her senses felt under assault. She could see bodies buried under debris, smell the stench of burning flesh, hear the screams of the dying, feel the heat of the raging flames.

( _ don’t lose yourself _ )

But still, she drove forward. For a minute or so, she kept Hans on his back foot, but then she felt the tide begin to shift. Her momentum slowed, stopped, then reversed. The ferocity of Anna’s flames waned as fear started to replace anger. Hans was so strong, it took all she had to withstand his assault.

“AHHHH!!!!” Hans’s blade had found its way past Anna’s, past her fire, and buried itself in her left shoulder. Agony exploded behind Anna’s eyes, blinding her. Her breath came in hitching gasps, and her legs wobbled, then gave way. She fell to her knees, looking up at the face of her enemy, the bubbling anger no longer enough to sustain her. She could feel that bright corner of her mind still, but the barrier between her and the magic seemed to have become thicker, much too thick to break through.

“Goodbye, Anna,” Hans said, breathing hard. He ripped his sword out of her shoulder, sending her blood spattering across the stones. As he raised his sword for the killing blow, Anna looked around through hazy eyes. Arendelle was nearly destroyed. She and Hans had battled their way through much of the town, and everywhere they went, destruction and death had followed. She had lost control, and despite that, Hans still lived. And now she would die. She saw the blade coming, thirsty for her blood. It glittered through the air in a short and brutal arc, and would impact her neck in milliseconds. She waited for death.

There was a burst of cold air. Anna was unconscious before she even had time to wonder where it had come from.


	12. Reunions: Elsa - A Desperate Flight

Elsa didn’t know if she would make it in time. She sprinted through the streets, heedless of the crowds, of the danger, occasionally stumbling as she felt the ground shift beneath her, the sound of explosions ripping through the air like so much thunder. Panicked throngs of people crowded the streets, and she plowed through them, shoving people out of her way without pause or care.

 _I have to get to her!_ This thought repeated in Elsa’s mind as her feet pounded the stone bricks, moving faster than she ever had ( _not fast enough_ ) in order to get to her sister. She had never done anything but fail her. She _would not_ fail her now. She _could not_ fail her now. Elsa’s breath was coming in ragged gasps. Her vision narrowed, blocking out anything but the path in front of her. The path to Anna.

She burst out of an alleyway and skidded to a stop, eyes darting around. Flames danced through the windows of half a dozen buildings on this street. The street was little more than rubble, slowing down the crowd desperate to flee the battle. _Where are they?_ she thought, panic flooding her mind. 

BOOM

Another explosion, this one much closer than the others she had felt. She darted off in the direction it had come from, even as people began to flood the other way, slowing her down, trying to escape the battle. She rounded the corner, and- _there they are!_

Anna and Hans were locked in combat, dueling within a whirling firestorm, three hundred yards away from Elsa. She could no longer even feel the impact of her feet on the rough remains of the street as her numb legs screamed in protest. She ignored them and continued sprinting with all of her strength. _Hang on Anna!_ There was a pile of debris in front of her, and she hurdled it without breaking stride, sweat pouring off her face.

Two hundred yards. 

She saw Anna beginning to falter, her strength betraying her. Even from this distance, Elsa could see her face screwed up with the effort to remain standing. The flames were beginning to die out as well. 

One hundred yards.

“AHHHHH!” Anna’s scream pierced through the air.

Ninety yards.

A spike of fear drove its way into Elsa’s heart.

Eighty yards.

Hans wrenched the sword out of Anna, sending her blood flying in a gruesome arc.

Seventy yards.

Hans raised his sword for the killing blow.

Sixty yards.

The sword descended.

Fifty yards. She was too late.

“NO!” Elsa screamed, flinging out a hand as though she could intercept the blade from here. At once, a surge of power, so great that she had only experienced it once before, coursed through her. She felt cold- actually cold, for the first time she could ever remember, as her veins chilled and frost appeared on her outstretched hand. She was swept up in its wake, a helpless passenger along for the ride, as the power coursed through her, not from the corner of her mind where her magic slept, but somewhere else. Somewhere outside her body. Its magnitude was immense, buffeting Elsa’s mind around like a leaf in a hurricane, as it burst forth from her being.

Time slowed down, or perhaps it just seemed that way. Elsa watched, seeing every detail with a clarity borne of fear, as all the air around where her sister was about to die grew still. The smoke from Anna’s dying flames hung motionless in midair, then started to blow, as if in a high wind. They whirled into a vortex, focused between her sister and her enemy, as though to try to block that fatal strike, compressing the air and Elsa’s magic- or _something’s_ magic- down into a miniscule speck, then seemed to vanish, and as it did, Elsa felt the alien presence of that power fade as well. For one wild moment, Elsa had time to wonder if she had only imagined it, her brain just conjuring a comforting thought as her world collapsed, and perhaps her sister was already dead and her senses just refused to believe it. 

Then, Elsa gasped as the power surged through her once more, greater and more frightening than before. The air between Hans and Anna erupted into a maelstrom of ice and wind. Elsa saw both of them thrown back by the blast, and the lifeless way Anna flew through the air told Elsa her sister was already unconscious, or worse.

The storm raged, expanding outward in a frozen hurricane, and when it reached Elsa, it lifted her off her feet, sheets of sleet and ice feeling like a million needles stabbing her face. She landed hard on her back, and she lay there, gasping for air. The buildings around her were being torn apart with the force of the storm, shingles peeled off roofs, doors ripped off hinges, shutters wrenched from shattered windows. She reached out, still trying to catch her breath, and tried to calm the storm, but this power had not come from her, merely channeled through her, and she could no more stop the storm than she could catch smoke with her bare hands. She clambered to her feet, then scrambled forward, hunched low to keep from falling again, forcing herself to keep her eyes open in the stinging wind, searching for Anna.

“Anna!” she screamed, but even to her own ears, it sounded quiet and pitiful against the howling winds. Entire sides of the nearby buildings were crumbling, collapsing into the street. “Anna!” she screamed again.

 _There!_ A glimpse of strawberry blonde hair, streaked through with much darker red. Anna lay, eyes closed and quite still, underneath a small pile of rubble from the wall she had impacted after the initial blast. Elsa tore at the pile, feeling, but not caring, as her fingernails broke and peeled back as she dug. Above her, the storm intensified. Within seconds, she had uncovered Anna’s broken and bloody body. She thrust two shaking fingers to Anna’s neck and searched for a pulse. It took her a moment, but then Elsa felt life thud beneath her fingers, and she let out a strangled sob. She knew it was dangerous to move Anna, but a glance up at the storm told her all she needed to know to make the decision. 

She threw Anna’s arm over her shoulders and heaved her to her feet, then began to drag her back along the street, away from the storm, as fast as she could. Anna’s head lolled unsettlingly, her face pale and expressionless, reminding Elsa of a stringless marionette, no more than a hollow imitation of life. Anna’s blood poured from her shoulder down Elsa’s side, soaking through Elsa’s clothing with horrible warmth. Hans had cut something deep. 

_She’s still alive!_ Elsa told herself fiercely, as she tried to keep moving, the ferocious storm dissipated at last, wisping into nothingness over the next few moments. She could hear people running, and she knew she only had seconds before Hans’s forces found her. She whipped her head around, searching for somewhere to hide.

“Your Majesty, in here, quick!” A voice whispered from a cracked door to her right. She had no time to decide. She barreled into and through the gap, slamming the door shut behind her. She saw a young girl, wide eyed and trembling. Her hands were clasped over her mouth, like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“I- is she- is the princess-”

Elsa shook her head. “No, but she’s hurt. Help me!” Together, Elsa and the girl lay Anna down on the wooden floor, a spreading pool of blood under her. “Get some cloth, quick!” The girl rushed to the other room of the small house, returning a moment later with an armful of rags. Elsa snatched them and packed the fabric down into the wound as deep as she could, trying to stem the torrent of blood from Anna’s shoulder. _There’s so much blood..._ “Keep pressure here,” she ordered, and the girl crouched down and put both hands over the cloth, putting almost all her weight on the wound. Elsa got up and darted to the window, peeking out through the threadbare curtains. She yanked her head back as a group of Empire soldiers came running down the street, towards where Hans and Anna had been. Elsa ran back to her sister and dropped to her knees beside the girl, adding her own pressure to the bandages. She had already lost so much blood, Elsa couldn’t tell if the bleeding was slowing because of them or because Anna was dying.

“Hang on Anna,” Elsa pleaded under her breath. “Please hang on… don’t leave me alone…”

The girl did not speak, but continued to press on the wound with a sort of crazed determination on her face. After the longest few minutes of Elsa’s life, she saw the bleeding slow, then stop, and her sister’s chest rise and fall- slowly and shallowly, yes, but she was still alive. They wrapped her shoulder in clean cloth and bound it, or, to be more accurate, the girl bound it. Elsa’s hands were shaking too hard to be of much use. Once the bandage was complete, Elsa and the girl sat back, panting, as tiny amounts of color, so little Elsa couldn’t be sure it wasn’t wishful thinking, returned to Anna’s face.

“You need to get out of the city, Your Majesty,” the girl said, breathing hard, sweat dripping off her forehead. “You’ll be found if you stay.”

“How?” Elsa gasped, a stitch in her lungs.

“Wait until nightfall. I know a way to get out. I use it to go hunting.”

Elsa looked at her properly for the first time. She was younger than Elsa first realized, thirteen at most, but tall for her age, maybe an inch or two shorter than Anna. Her body was thin- she’d gone a long time without adequate food. Her eyes were forest green, framed by hair just a shade darker than Elsa’s own, drawn back in a ponytail. They looked strangely familiar, but something about them unsettled Elsa. After a moment, she realized that they were the eyes of someone much older than thirteen. Eyes full of grief, of weariness, of loneliness. Eyes that had seen terrible things. Eyes that had not felt love in a long time. She realized why someone so young lived alone. “Your parents died in the war… didn’t they?”

The girl nodded, then said, “I never knew my mother. But my father did. During the Fall.”

Guilt swelled up in Elsa’s stomach. She had been the direct cause of the death of this girl’s father, and here she was, repaying his sacrifice by putting his daughter in mortal danger due to her own incompetence. “I’m so sorr-”

“Don’t!” The girl spoke with unexpected ferocity. “Don’t apologize. Don’t....” Her voice caught, and she swallowed hard. “My dad made his choice. He chose to believe in you. So please don’t apologize...”

“I’m sor-” Elsa cut herself off. She didn’t know what else to say. She didn’t deserve anyone’s faith, least of all this girl who had lost so much because of her. “What’s your name?”

“Cirilla, Your Majesty.”

Elsa wanted to correct her- she was no one’s queen now- but didn’t want to accidentally offend her again. Instead she just said, “Thank you, Cirilla. I- _we_ are in your debt.” A small blush colored her cheeks, but there was no smile. 

Cirilla stood up without warning and walked into the other room, returning before Elsa had even gotten to her feet, holding a small cot. “We can put her on this and get her in the basement?” It was almost a question, and Elsa could tell she was hesitant to even suggest for Elsa to do something. It was somehow nostalgic, and for the first time in what felt like forever, she remembered what it was like to be Queen, but there was a problem.

“There are no basements in Arendelle,” Elsa said, confused. The proximity to the fjord meant that even a light rain could cause flooding in the streets. It’s why the sewer system here was so extensive.

“There is here,” Cirilla said, setting the cot down next to Anna. “C-can you help me? I don’t want to hurt her...” Together, they slowly lifted Anna- Elsa had to suppress a sob as she saw pain flash across Anna’s still unconscious face- then slid the cot underneath her. Elsa could see a thin stripe of blood beginning to seep through the cloth binding her shoulder, and knew they would have to change her dressings in a matter of hours at most. They carried Anna into the other room, which turned out to be Cirilla’s bedroom. A pile of ratty sheets and a flat pillow lay in the corner, and Elsa realized that the small cot was all she had to sleep on. Cirilla carefully walked backwards into the room, and Elsa could see a rug with its corner pulled back, and beneath that, a cast iron ring and a trapdoor.

“What?” Elsa asked dumbly. This time, Cirilla did smile.

“My dad died in the Fall. But he wasn’t exactly a soldier,” Cirilla said, as she set Anna down and pulled open the trapdoor. This did nothing to assuage Elsa’s confusion, or her steadily rising uneasiness. Just who _was_ this girl? Elsa had been so grateful she hadn’t yet stopped to consider the possibility that this was all a trap. What if she locked them in, then went to fetch the guards? Fear flooded Elsa, clouding her mind. Not for herself, she stopped caring about her own life a long time ago, but for Anna. She swore to keep her safe. She felt her hand move to her knife. She felt it leave its sheath. She saw Cirilla turn around at the sound, to see Elsa there, in a defensive position over Anna, the knife at the ready.

Cirilla’s face fell. “Really, Your Majesty? I’m only trying to help...”

“I’m sorry, Cirilla,” Elsa said in a cautious voice, and she truly was. “I don’t know who to trust.” Cirilla looked at the ground. “I am grateful for your help, but… why is there a basement here? Who are you? Who was your father?”

In lieu of an answer, Cirilla bent down and plucked something from below the trapdoor. She tossed it at Elsa, something small and silvery, and her first thought was that it was a knife, but as she dodged it, she realized it was more of a medallion. She just managed to snatch it with her fingertips as it went by, then looked back at Cirilla, who did not meet her eyes.

“What is this?”

“Look at it, Your Majesty.” Cirilla’s tone was bitter and hurt. 

Elsa looked. It was indeed a medallion, but it had something inscribed on it. A triangle, with the bottom corners rounded out and the bottom side not quite meeting in the middle. Elsa gasped. She had seen this sigil before, when the large boy- Tulkin, Elsa thought his name was- had tried to kill her after the Battle of Corona. She looked back at Cirilla, stunned.

“You’re an _assassin_?”

Cirilla shook her head. “I’m not, Your Majesty. My dad was.” Her voice was very small, and Elsa’s guilt intensified. She knew why Cirilla’s eyes looked familiar. She had seen them before.

“Your father went to Corona just before the Fall, didn’t he?”

Cirilla looked up at last, her eyes widening in surprise. “He did, Your Majesty… Um… How did you-”

“You have your father’s eyes,” Elsa said, and slid the knife back into its sheath.

“What do you-”

“I’m sorry, Cirilla, for everything,” and this time, Elsa averted her eyes as her voice trembled a little. A strange mix of emotions battled for dominance, but she could sort them out when Anna was safe. Safer, at least. “Can you please help me get my sister into the basement?”

“O-of course, Your Majesty.” Elsa had mistrusted a girl who put herself in great danger to save Anna, the first person who had reached out as an ally for two years, and whose father had once saved Elsa from certain death, and still, Cirilla called her “Your Majesty”. Elsa had never felt less deserving of the title. She came over and lifted her end of the cot, and Elsa lifted hers, her arms shaking from the effort. She was tired, both physically and mentally, but she forced her hands to hold on. She would not let Anna fall.

The stairs to the basement were steep, and it took almost two minutes to navigate the dozen steps without Anna sliding off the cot, but eventually, Anna lay in the corner, and Elsa slumped against the wall, breathing hard. Cirilla went back upstairs, saying she had to clean up the blood. Elsa meant to get up and help, she really did, but the next moment, her chin dropped to her chest and she fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kept you waiting, huh? Long update today because 5,000 words would have ended the update last chapter, and I wanted to let you know how that resolved. A note- yes, I took Cirilla's name and rough appearance from the Witcher, but it is NOT Ciri, as in, this is not all of a sudden a Witcher crossover, nor does her personality match with Witcher Ciri at ALL. I initially used the name as a placeholder as I was replaying The Witcher 3, but as the story changed and grew, I liked the name more and more, and the appearance actually works out too, so I said "fuck it" and left it in. Hope you enjoyed, I'll see you on Saturday!


	13. Reunions: Elsa - Safe Port

Elsa slept for a long time, a deep, dreamless sleep. When she woke, she realized she had moved. She was no longer sitting up against the wall, but laying on a thick blanket and pillow, with another blanket covering her. She opened her eyes to see a hooded lantern, sitting on the floor near the center of the small room. Next to the lantern was a chair, and in the chair sat Cirilla. She had a short sword sitting across her lap, and her back was to Elsa. She faced the steps, and her hand gripped the hilt of the sword. Tears welled up in Elsa’s eyes, and she bit her knuckles to suppress a sob. For all this girl knew, Elsa had abandoned her to a life under Hans, wasting the sacrifice her father had made, and then almost tried to kill her in return for saving both Elsa and Anna’s lives, and still, she was protecting Elsa. _Nurturing_ Elsa, even, for it could only have been her who moved Elsa to a more comfortable position. 

What was worse, Elsa _had_ abandoned her to Hans, had abandoned everyone in the kingdom. She had failed. Failed to keep her kingdom safe. Failed to keep her family safe. Failed to keep Anna safe. When Kristoff and Heins had gone out looking for Anna, Elsa left the tree and wandered into the woods. At first, she had intended on going out to somewhere desolate, the North Mountain, perhaps, and just waiting for the cold, comforting arms of death. She stayed at the mountain for five days. She noted on the second day the bitter irony of how much harder it was to freeze to death for her than it was for most people. On the fifth night, as her body weakened and her hunger grew, she experienced something. Something she could not explain, but would spend the next two years searching for an answer for.

A girl, young and barefoot, no more than ten, with a gray dress and long black hair, stepped out of the shadows near Elsa. She had not heard her approach, nor could she see any tracks in the snow at the girl’s feet.

“What?” It was all Elsa could think to say. This wasn’t real. She must be hallucinating.

“ _Elsa…_ ” The girl’s whisper was strange, almost ethereal in its lightness. Elsa suppressed a chill. It felt somehow _wrong_ , as though her voice was not meant to be heard. “ _You can still save her_ …”

“Save who?” It might be a hallucination, but Elsa figured she may as well play her part in it before she died. What was the harm?

“ _Anna… it’s not too late…_ ”

Elsa laughed, and the sound was absorbed by the snow, making it sound cold and lifeless. “It’s way past too late, I’m afraid.”

“ _No… but it soon will be…_ ” The girl’s eyes fixed on Elsa’s, and Elsa felt a strange pulling sensation from them. Neither she nor the girl was moving, she was almost sure of it, but her eyes were growing larger, or maybe Elsa’s vision was growing narrower, but either way, the eyes, those cloudy gray eyes, they were magnetic, hypnotizing, pulling Elsa in-

Then, Elsa wasn’t on the North Mountain. She and the girl were hovering ten feet above the heads of a large, chattering crowd in a town square. An atmosphere of excitement and anticipation filled the air, but it was not joyful, it was vengeful. Despite the girl floating with Elsa, and despite the fact that all of the people below her had a direct line of sight to them, not one of them seemed to even notice the pair suspended above them. Elsa looked at her hands, and saw that she could see through them, and the edges of them were shifting and blurred, like looking through the haze above a fire. She must still be hallucinating, but at the same time, she was certain she was not. Whatever was happening was real.

“What is this?” Elsa asked.

“ _What will come to pass if you falter…_ ” the girl answered in her ethereal whisper. “ _Look_ …” The girl pointed, and Elsa followed her gaze to the center of the square. A gallows had been erected, and Elsa realized with sickening anxiety that they were in Arendelle. She could see the castle beyond the crowd. Five figures stood on the gallows, three bound and hooded with nooses around their necks, and two stood near the lever to drop the platform. One, the one nearest the lever, Elsa didn’t recognize. The other was Hans. He wore an opulent golden crown, with jewels inlaid across every square inch. His expression was one of excitement and triumph as he raised his hands to the crowd, who quieted at once. 

“Fair people of the Empire, rejoice! Your salvation is finally at hand!” A great cheer rose up from the crowd, and Elsa had to fight back a wave of revulsion. Were her people really cheering for the man responsible for so much death? “Yes, the ones who so callously tossed your lives aside when I tried to unite the world in the name of peace and prosperity, are before you now. Behold!” Hans went to the first hooded figure and ripped the hood off, revealing the battered, bruised, and bloodied face of Kristoff. He was gagged and one of his eyes was missing, but fury burned behind the other.

“No!” Elsa screamed, but even to her own ears, her voice sounded faint, faraway. She tried to move closer, writing in midair, but it was as though she were anchored to the spot. She tried to use magic, but found that nothing happened when she tried to breach that corner of her mind. She turned on the girl, white with rage. “Why are you doing this?” The girl gave no response. She just looked at Elsa, then turned back to the gallows.

“Kristoff, the Butcher!” Hans announced with radiating glee. “Responsible for untold numbers of deaths of men, women, and children throughout the Empire! I sentence him to die!” As cheers erupted from the crowd, Kristoff screamed through his gag, but Hans struck him in the face, causing fresh blood to pour down from Kristoff’s shattered nose down his front. Hans went to the next figure and pulled their hood off. Heins stood there, also gagged, and as ruined as Kristoff, though not missing an eye.

“Heins! No!” She turned back to the girl. “Do something! Please!” There was still no response. A helpless tempest of despair swirled within Elsa’s stomach as she turned back to the gallows.

“Heins, the Traitor!” Hans shouted. “Regrettably, my own brother, who chose to try to usurp me rather than serve at my side. I sentence him to die!” More cheers, and Elsa’s blood chilled. She knew who was next in line. Hans strode over to them and ripped the hood off. Anna stood there, gagged, even more bloody than the others. One of her ears was missing, leaving a ragged lump of torn flesh on the side of her head. Blood plastered her hair to the spot. Her cheek had been sliced open on the right side, and she breathed through the meaty flaps of skin. Elsa could see several missing teeth, and her screams could not quite drown out Hans’s next words. Her eyes were not filled with fury as Heins and Kristoff’s were, but instead dazed and unfocused from pain. She swayed on the spot, struggling to remain upright.

“Anna, the Craven!” The loudest cheer yet. “She refused my generous offer for peace, then fled, leaving her people to die in vain, to save her own skin! I sentence her to die! Pull!” At his command, the man near the lever pulled hard, and the platform dropped away. Both Heins and Kristoff died at once, the crack of their necks breaking audible even over the din of the crowd, though perhaps Elsa’s horrified brain had just imagined the sound. Anna, however, did not die quickly. 

Her eyes bulged in pain and fear, and Elsa screamed. 

Her legs kicked frantically, and Elsa screamed. 

Her face contorted, beginning to turn purple, and Elsa screamed. 

Her eyes became bloodshot, and Elsa screamed. 

Her kicking became weaker, and Elsa screamed.

Her tongue swelled and protruded grotesquely through the ragged chunks of what was Anna’s cheek, and Elsa screamed.

There was a sensation of being pulled backwards, and Elsa seemed to slam back into herself, on the North Mountain, with the girl in the gray dress standing in front of her.

“What was that?” Elsa screamed at her, and she could feel tears making cold tracks down her face. She hadn’t even realized she’d been crying. What had her body been doing while her mind was… away?

“ _A possibility… one you can prevent… one you_ must _prevent..._ “ The girl’s voice was growing softer, and Elsa saw her begin to fade.

“What must I do?” Elsa whispered.

“ _Seek the truth of your powers… Unite the four..._ ”

“What?”

Elsa snapped back to the present, and she must have moved a little, because Cirilla turned around. Elsa saw her green eyes peering through the darkness, shining in the light from the lantern.

“Your Majesty?” she whispered.

“Please,” Elsa said, her voice cracking as she struggled to sit up. “Elsa is fine.”

A bashful smile curled Cirilla’s lips. “A-as you wish. Um… you can call me Ciri. But only if you want!”

“Very well, Ciri,” Elsa said, smiling back, then she took a moment to examine the room. It was small, smaller than the house up above. The walls were rough and unfinished, but the rocks that comprised them had been sealed with what looked like tar. There was a wardrobe half ajar across from her, and she could just glimpse the white robes Ciri’s father had worn the day he saved her life. Next to that was a weapon stand. An unstrung hunting bow and quiver of arrows lay there, looking old, but in reasonable condition, as well as a space that Elsa presumed usually held the sword in Ciri’s lap. Next to that, was Elsa’s sister.

She climbed to her feet, grunting in pain as her legs shouted in protest, then crossed to where Anna lay. She looked peaceful in the dim light, and her chest rose and fell in a slow rhythm. The bandage on her shoulder had been changed since Elsa saw it, and it hadn’t been long by the looks of it. Elsa carressed Anna’s face, blinking back tears. It was hard to believe that it had been two years since she had seen her sister. “I’m sorry, Cirill- Ciri,” Elsa said, still looking down at Anna. “It has been… a very long time since I met anyone who wasn’t trying to kill me.” She turned around to face the young girl, trying to stay composed. One look at Ciri’s kind, understanding face ruined that plan, and Elsa dropped to her knees, the tears flowing thick and fast. All the fear, all the doubt, all the self-loathing, all the stress of the past two years seemed to be hitting her all at once in the face of this brief comfort. She felt like she had been lost at sea, and had finally caught a glimpse of a safe port.

She was vaguely aware that Ciri had gotten up from the chair and was kneeling down next to her, putting an awkward, hesitant hand on her shoulder. This only served to intensify Elsa’s sobs, and she seized her hand, clinging to it like a drowning man clutches at a buoy. An intense feeling of isolation surged within Elsa. She had had no physical contact with anyone for almost two years, save for a few Empire soldiers as they tried to kill her. Her heart felt torn in two as she struggled to regain her composure. Guilt, loss, regret, sorrow, and despair raged within her, and the one thing she felt she could hang on to was the feeling of the girl’s hand in hers, whose father had died because of Elsa, and who Elsa had nearly killed because she felt nervous. When would she ever deserve the kindness she received throughout her life? After a few minutes, as Elsa had just begun to catch her breath in rattling gasps, she heard something that she had not heard in two years.

“Elsa?” The voice was soft, weak, hoarse, but there could be no mistaking it- it was Anna’s. Elsa whipped her head around, and saw Anna sitting up, her face twisted up in pain.

“Anna!” Elsa cried, letting go of Ciri and rushing towards Anna, but she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the chill fury in Anna’s eyes. "Anna…?"

"What are you doing here, Elsa?" The words were icy, with none of the warmth Elsa remembered with such poignancy. Even Elsa's name sounded wrong in that cold voice. Elsa just stood there, not sure how to respond. Anna snorted, anger and derision etched on her face. Only then did she seem to notice Ciri, who had sidled up next to Elsa, almost hiding behind her shoulder. "Oh, hello," Anna said, her face softening at once, and the warm, almost loving tone with which she addressed this total stranger was like a knife to Elsa's heart. "Who are you?"

"Cirilla, Your Highness," Ciri said, and after a brief hesitation, she curtsied. Anna giggled, and Elsa felt, more keenly than ever, the vast expanse of emptiness between her and her sister. Before Elsa or Ciri could react, Anna swung her legs off the cot and tried to stand, but her legs gave out almost at once.

"Anna!" Elsa yelped, moving forward on instinct to try to catch her, but it was too late, Anna’s knees hit the floor, but Elsa could still-

"Don't touch me," Anna snarled. She sat on the floor, her leg bent and twisted beneath her, holding onto the wall for balance with her uninjured arm, her face contorted with pain. Elsa froze, her hand outstretched. Ciri rushed past Elsa, and Anna did not protest as she helped Anna get to a more stable position, sitting up against the wall. Ciri was stealing glances at Elsa, helpless pity in her eyes, as Elsa stood as still as a statue in the middle of the room.

"What are you doing here, Elsa?" Anna asked again, the warmth vanished from her voice, gritting her teeth as she tried to catch her breath. Elsa's mouth opened and closed fruitlessly. She couldn't find words, any words, powerful enough to cross this gap.

"She saved your life, Your Highness," Ciri said in a quiet whisper, as though afraid Anna would turn her wrath upon her if she spoke too loud, but Anna just glared at Elsa.

"Oh?" she said, in a voice dripping with venom. "Think that makes us even, huh sis? Think you can waltz back in and all is forgiven, after what you fucking did-” 

“Your Highness, please, quiet!” Ciri pleaded, as Anna’s voice grew louder. Anna looked around, saw the trapdoor, and seemed to realize where she was. She continued at a hiss, her teal eyes, burning with rage, locked on Elsa’s.

“After what you fucking did. You betrayed me. You betrayed the whole fucking kingdom.”

“I-I didn’t know what to do…” Elsa’s voice trembled as she tried to process. She had never heard Anna use language like this, never seen her so incensed with fury. Ciri had backed up against the wall, eyes darting between the sisters, looking afraid.

“ _Then fucking talk to me_ ,” Anna spat, and Elsa could see fire in her eyes. After a moment, she realized that she really could. Tiny flames danced behind her pupils, and her irises had taken on an orange glow. “Hadn’t I proved that I would do anything for you by that point? Or were you too fucking stupid to realize that? Or what?” Elsa opened her mouth to respond, not even sure what she was about to say, but Anna plowed cruelly on. “And where the fuck have you been the past two years, while I’ve been trying to fix your mistake? On vacation somewhere with Heins?”

“I-I haven’t seen Heins since that night.” For the briefest moment, Elsa thought she saw the smallest flash of surprise pass over Anna’s face, but then it was replaced by the hard glare once more.

“Probably betrayed him too, huh?” The truth in Anna’s words cut deep. 

“I’m sorry, Anna…” Elsa whispered.

“I don’t care,” Anna sneered.

“Your Highness,” Ciri squeaked, gesturing towards Anna. “Please…” Anna looked down, and her eyes widened. Elsa followed her gaze. The small blanket she was sitting on was beginning to catch fire.

“Shit,” Anna muttered. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and the flames died out. She looked over at Ciri. “Sorry, Cirilla.”

“It’s alright, Your Highness- excuse me for a moment.” Ciri hurried over to the steep staircase and darted up it. Elsa was reminded of a rabbit, desperately fleeing a circling hawk. She saw Anna look back at her and turned away.

“I’m sorry, Anna…” Elsa repeated, her voice very hoarse, not able to bring herself to meet Anna’s eyes, tears dripping down her face and splashing to the floor. “I’m so sorry for everything…”

“Dammit Elsa, knock it off,” Anna said, but the edge had left her voice. It still was not the loving tone Elsa sometimes still heard in her dreams, but it was better than it had been at least. “You’re making it hard to stay pissed off at you.” Elsa looked up, surprised, to see Anna, the expression on her face one of utter exhaustion. “I thought for so long about what I would do if I saw you again,” Anna said, slow at first, then picking up steam. “About what I would say. About how I would react. I was so angry… I’ve been so angry, for so long. Why aren’t I angry?” She sounded annoyed now, frustrated. Her jaw was tight and her eyes were hard as they bored into Elsa’s. “I should _hate_ you for what you did.”

“You were doing a good job being mad a moment ago,” Elsa choked out through a mixture of laughter and sobs. Her sister was here, alive and (mostly) well. Elsa hardly dared to believe it _wasn’t_ all some cruel fantasy, and she would wake any moment, hungry and alone, on the North Mountain, the past two years being some feverish dying dream.

“Yeah,” Anna muttered. “But it was like this-” Anna snapped the fingers of her uninjured hand, and a small flame shone there, then winked out as suddenly as it had appeared- “and now I just feel… empty.” Elsa met her gaze, and she saw the eyes of someone at the end of their tether. “I’m so tired, Elsa. I’m tired of being so scared all the time. I’m tired of being alone all the time. Tired of being so angry. Tired of fighting, tired of killing. I’m just… tired.”

“I am too, Anna.” Elsa hesitated, then took a tentative step towards her. Seeing no response, she took another, and another, until she was right next to her sister. She leaned against the wall and slid down to sit next to Anna, every muscle in her body tensed to leap away, as though Anna were a bomb that could go off at any moment. 

“This doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven you for what you’ve done,” Anna muttered, once Elsa had lowered herself all the way to the floor.

“I know,” Elsa responded in a whisper. “I don’t deserve forgiveness.”

“No, you don’t,” Anna agreed. Elsa almost didn’t hear what she said next, her voice was so low. “Not yet, anyway.”

“So… do you know-” Elsa began, but Anna cut her off.

“If Heins is alive?” Elsa nodded, terrified of the answer. Anna looked away. “I don’t know.” Elsa sagged against the wall, the miniscule bubble of hope rupturing, leaving her feeling empty. She hadn’t really expected a different answer, but had not been able to stop herself from hoping. _But wait, how did she know-_ “Do you know-”

“If Kristoff is alive?” Elsa finished for her. Anna nodded glumly. “I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

Anna chuckled, but there was no humor in it. “Figures.” She closed her eyes, laid her head back on the wall, and sighed. She put a hand over her injured shoulder and winced at the pressure, but kept her hand there. “How did you find me anyway?”

“How did you get fire magic?” Elsa replied, and her heart leapt as she saw a tiny smile tug at the corners of Anna’s mouth, but it was gone almost instantly.

“You first.”

“I suppose that’s fair. Let’s see...”

* * *

#  **Two Weeks Earlier**

“ _Elsa…_ ” The soft whisper cut through Elsa’s sleep like a scream. She sat bolt upright, knife already in one hand, the other poised to release a blast of magic. She saw no one in the tiny cottage she had been staying in the past few days. She swung her legs off the bed and stood up. Her feet made no noise on the wooden floor as she moved to the drawn window shades and peeked beyond them. There was no sign of movement. She seized her sword and strapped it to her hip. She _knew_ she had heard someone.

“ _Elsa…_ ” the voice said again, sounding like it came from outside the front door. She dashed to it and threw it open, her eyes darting around, alert for any danger, one hand on the hilt of her blade, the other readying her magic. After a moment, she spotted a familiar sight. A young girl of around ten, dressed in a plain gray dress, if you could even call it that. It was no more than a piece of fabric with a few holes cut in it. Her long black hair flowed down her back to her waist. She wore no shoes, and despite the thick brambles and weeds surrounding the abandoned cottage, her feet were unblemished. Her cloudy gray eyes were locked on Elsa’s, and Elsa felt a tremor run up her spine even as she dismissed the magic. Elsa had a feeling it wasn’t likely to do anything to this girl anyway. 

“Who are you?” Elsa asked, every muscle in her body tensing, but then, in lieu of an answer, the girl turned around and darted into the darkness, her hair flying out behind her, her bare feet padding across the ground with an unsettling lightness.

 _Get out of here, Elsa_ , a tiny voice whispered in her mind. _This is too strange._ She had only survived this long by listening to that skeptical voice, and for a moment, she almost did again. Then she went bounding after the girl, her curiosity getting the better of her. There was something undeniably magical about the girl, and Elsa was determined to find out what it was.

The girl was fast, and Elsa was not half as light on her feet as she was. It was as though the girl was gliding along the ground. Elsa was stomping through the woods with all the elegance of a charging elephant compared to the girl’s otherworldly grace. The girl led Elsa up hills and down ravines, through brush and across rivers. Elsa’s hair was plastered to her forehead as she struggled to breathe. After what felt like hours, but what must have been only minutes, the girl turned around. Elsa skidded to a stop in front of her.

“Done running, then?” she asked, clutching a stitch in her side. The girl looked at her, then raised a finger to her lips. “Okay, quiet, got it,” Elsa said, dropping her voice to a whisper. “Who are you?” In lieu of a response, the girl pointed off into the woods. Elsa followed her finger. At first, she saw nothing, but as she strained her eyes into the darkness, she saw a tiny, flickering light. She looked back at the girl, intending to ask her what the light was, only to see that she was gone. Elsa stood alone, in the woods, in the dark, with very little idea of where she was, with an unidentified light fifty yards away, and she suddenly felt very exposed. 

Elsa sighed, making sure to stay very quiet. Only one thing to do now, she supposed. She drew her blade and crept towards the flickering light. She reached the thick brush at the edge of a clearing and crouched down within it, peering through to see the source of the light. She saw a hooded figure sitting on the ground, their back to Elsa, perhaps ten yards away. They sat by a small campfire, which was the source of the light Elsa had-

Elsa clapped a hand to her mouth to suppress a cry of shock. The figure had moved their hand, and the fire winked out, plunging the grove into darkness. Before Elsa could decide on a next move, the fire returned with another gesture from the figure.

 _Another fire magician?_ Fear flooded Elsa, paralyzing her muscles, constricting her chest, her breath seizing. She had fought someone like this before, and it was only through what she had come to call “divine intervention” that she survived that encounter. She had no faith in her abilities to survive a second time. She would have to act now, before the magician noticed her. She summoned forth her ice, letting it build in her hand, preparing to release it. She wouldn’t kill the magician, not yet, just disable until she could find out their intentions, and as she began to move, the figure lowered their hood-

A flash of strawberry blonde hair. It was short, even shorter than Elsa’s now was, much shorter than Elsa could ever remember seeing it, coming down to just above the figure’s shoulders, but the shade… Elsa had seen that hair every night in her dreams for the past two years. As the figure got up and stretched, turning side to side with their arms over their head, Elsa saw the face of her sister, looking exhausted but pleased. 

Electricity coursed through Elsa’s veins, rooting her to the spot, half in a crouch, still hidden by the shadows and the thick brush. Her mind reeled. Anna was alive. Anna was _alive._ Anna had magic, somehow. But the thing that hit Elsa the hardest was that Anna was _right there_. She could take a few steps, and be within arm’s reach of her sister for the first time in almost two years. She almost did, almost stepped, dreamlike, into view of her sister, her mouth opening to call her name- but then she stopped. The last time they had seen each other had been during the Fall, when Elsa had shut Anna out- again- and Anna had left, even striking Elsa across the face for good measure. Had she forgiven Elsa by now? Did Elsa even deserve forgiveness?

“Who’s there?” Anna’s voice shocked Elsa into a decision. She crouched back down and fled, moving as quickly and quietly as she could manage through the underbrush. She heard Anna follow for a moment, but then she must have dismissed the motion as an animal and turned back to her camp. 

Elsa stayed in the woods that night, and for the next two weeks, she followed Anna at a distance, making sure to not be seen as Anna traveled across the countryside, heading for Arendelle. It was not an easy task, as Anna had gotten very good at covering her tracks, and more than once, Elsa was sure she had lost her. Perhaps whatever strange magic had brought Elsa back to Anna was still at work, because on each occasion, she stumbled across Anna once more, seeming to be nothing but pure luck. Even that had its limits, however. When Anna entered Arendelle, Elsa lost her again, and this time, she wouldn’t find her until after her duel with Hans.

* * *

There was silence for a little while after Elsa finished her tale, while Anna laid back and closed her eyes, a contemplative look on her face. 

“And you haven’t found out who that girl was?” Anna asked.

“No.”

“Hmm…” Anna lapsed into silence for a minute, then said, “Ever get the feeling we’re just playing a part in a game we don’t understand?”

“What do you mean?” 

“... Never mind.” Elsa scowled, but before she could protest, Anna continued. “So you were following me.”

Elsa hung her head. “Yes… but I was afraid you’d hit me again,” she admitted, trying to soften the blow with a bit of levity.

“I haven’t ruled it out,” Anna said. It almost sounded like it could have been a joke, but Anna’s voice was so flat and devoid of life it was hard to tell.

“I’m sorry, Anna. I didn’t know how to-”

“It doesn’t even matter.” Elsa examined her sister as Anna’s eyes stayed closed. She had always been thin, a little smaller than Elsa, but she looked more gaunt than thin now. Her face was worn and weary, and several new scars dotted her face and arms. Her much shorter hair was filthy, even under the blood and debris from the battle, and was unkempt. It looked like she had cut it herself. It was clear that she had been living rough for a long while. Then again, Elsa didn’t really look any better. They were both a long, long way away from their sheltered upbringing in a castle. Even still, it took a moment to place why Anna looked so different. Anna used to be so bright, so full of life. That girl was gone. In her place was a woman, battered and beaten by the cruelty of the world she inhabited. Anna opened her eyes and looked at Elsa, and Elsa was struck once again by the dark emptiness behind them. 

“Um… are you okay?” She knew the question was stupid the instant she started speaking, but felt herself say the words anyway. Anna fixed her with a level stare.

“I’m really, really far from okay, Elsa.”

“I know, I just… you don’t look very good.” _By all that is holy, shut up Elsa, before she literally sets you on fire._ To Elsa’s surprise, Anna’s only reaction was a quiet laugh, but it was but a shadow of the clear, ringing laugh Elsa remembered.

“You’ve gotten more blunt, I see,” Anna said. “Let’s see, I’ve been living in the woods for two years, I haven’t had a proper bath in more than a month, I’m trying to come to terms with being face to face with someone I never expected to see again who I’ve spent two years resenting, I just blew up my city while trying to save it, I have no idea if my husband is still alive, and my kingdom is in the control of the worst ex-boyfriend the world has ever seen, who, by the way, just used my shoulder as a blade sharpener.” She looked down at herself, then back up at Elsa, and there was a hint- the tiniest spark, but Elsa was certain it was there- of her old self in her challenging look, and Elsa felt a fleeting feeling that everything could eventually be okay again, but then the moment passed as Anna continued. “I’d say I look pretty damn good, all things considered. Besides, have you seen yourself?” Elsa winced. Anna had a point, Elsa had seen better days.

“Well-”

“Shut up, Elsa!” Anna hissed. Elsa jumped, looking incredulously at her sister.

“But you just-”

“Shut up!” Anna repeated. Elsa saw now that her head was cocked to the side, and she was listening hard. Elsa did the same, straining her ears. They had been hearing Ciri’s light footsteps from the floor above them, but now, the footfalls were heavier, and it sounded like there were more of them.

“Did she sell us out?” Anna whispered, looking furious. Elsa shook her head.

“No way,” Elsa muttered, leaping to her feet and drawing her blade. Anna looked down, then around the basement.

“Where’s my sword?”

“Gone.” Elsa had not been concerned about the blade when she found Anna, and for all she knew, it lay in a frozen pile of rubble. Anna swore and began struggling to her feet, wincing as she did. “Anna, no, you-”

“Don’t you dare, Elsa,” Anna snarled, standing up straight and shooting Elsa a look of such unadulterated fury that Elsa took a step back. “Don’t you even _fucking_ dare tell me to stay here while you go fight.” She held up her hand, and a ball of flame hovered there, an inch above her palm. “I’m not helpless.”

“Fine,” Elsa conceded, there was no time to argue, “but be careful, you’re still hurt, and take this.” She flipped her own blade around and offered it to Anna. In her other hand, she focused, and with a swirl of snow and sleet, she now held a longsword. “I haven’t been doing nothing for two years, Anna,” Elsa said, in response to Anna’s raised eyebrow. She smirked and grabbed the blade.

“They coming to us or are we going to them?”

“We’re going to them,” Elsa replied at once. “If Ciri’s still alive, we have to save her.” Anna nodded and crept over to the stairs, Elsa right behind her. “Let me go first,” Elsa said, sliding in front. Anna huffed but didn’t argue. Elsa climbed the first few steps and stopped when she could reach the trapdoor. They could still hear heavy footfalls moving around above them. She put a hand on the trapdoor, then looked back at Anna. Anna positioned herself in a slight crouch, ready to pounce up the stairs on Elsa’s signal. Elsa held up three fingers, then two, then…

_SLAM!_

Elsa rammed her shoulder into the trapdoor as fast and as hard as she could, hoping there were no soldiers standing in the way. There weren’t, and the door crashed open, sending the rug fluttering into the corner. Elsa kept her momentum going and leapt through the opening, clearing the way for Anna, her eyes darting around the room. Five soldiers, weapons sheathed, surprised, no Ciri. _Perfect_. She darted forward, running her sword through one soldier before he had a chance to draw his blade. By the time his body hit the floor, most of the others had drawn their swords, and Anna was out of the trapdoor. 

Elsa shot a line of icicles at the next closest soldier, but he ducked under them and charged at Elsa. Without enough time to try a second time, Elsa braced herself as the soldier lowered his shoulder and wrapped his arms around Elsa’s middle, lifting her off her feet and slamming her into the wall. Her vision dimmed as her head hit the wall with a loud _thud_. She felt a wave of heat pass over her, and the man dropped to the floor, rolling around and screaming as his body erupted in flames. Elsa landed, stumbled, and saw a soldier rushing up to Anna, who was still facing Elsa with her hand held out, about to run his sword through her middle. She threw out a hand, and three icicles buried themselves in the soldiers head and neck with tremendous force, knocking him off his feet and against the far wall. The other two soldiers ran forward, one towards each sister. Elsa parried her foe’s swings, but only just. The man in front of her was huge, his red face contorted with fury beneath a bushy brown beard. He held his sword with both hands and swung with all his might, and Elsa’s arms started to go numb from the impacts. Every time she tried to concentrate on her magic, she lost the thread as she was forced to react to a fresh attack. On the other side of him, she saw Anna stumbling backwards, still too weak from her injury to fight well, as her opponent pressed forward. They needed to do something, fast, or they would both be killed.

With a burst of inspiration, Elsa raised her sword to parry another blow, then ducked and let the magic fade. The blade turned to water in an instant, and her opponent, lacking the expected impact, over-rotated and lost his balance, his blade singing over Elsa’s head as his entire body turned away from Elsa. She thrust her hand forward, conjuring another sword as she did so. It formed just before impact, and the edge, sharper than any steel could ever be, tore through the soldier’s back without resistance, erupting out of his chest with a fountain of scarlet.

With a ringing clash of metal on metal, Elsa whipped her head around to see Anna’s sword fly out of her hand. She scrambled back, panic in her eyes, but she tripped on one of the bodies and fell to the ground. The soldier charged at her, his weapon raised for a killing blow. With no time to conjure anything new, Elsa drew back her arm and threw her icy blade at Anna’s enemy. It tumbled end over end, its hilt thudding into the man’s ribs with a dull thump. He jumped in surprise and alarm, his attention slipping away from Anna for only a moment, but it was all the time Anna needed. With a frown of concentration and a quick motion, a pillar of fire erupted beneath the man, and his screams pierced the air as the stench of burning hair and flesh scorched Elsa’s nostrils. Anna clambered to her feet, her face bloodless and worn. One hand clutched her shoulder, which was gushing blood once more. “Where’s Cirilla?” she demanded, looking around. Elsa shook her head. Anna ran to the window and peeked out, first right, then left.

“There!” she cried, pointing to the left, down the street. “But-” 

Elsa didn’t hesitate. She couldn’t allow Ciri to be killed for her. She bounded forward, out of the door, and tore up the street as fast as her exhausted legs would carry her. She heard Anna’s cry of protest at Elsa’s reckless actions, but Elsa didn’t care. Ciri had put her own life at risk to save Elsa, as her father once had. She'd failed so many- she would not fail Ciri.

The guards didn’t notice Elsa’s pursuit until it was far too late. Elsa, exhausted though she was, had no trouble catching up, leaping over debris with Anna hot on her heels. They killed the men with a bit of well placed magic, sending Arendellians scattering in fear, screaming and shouting, none of them seeming to recognize Elsa or Anna.

“I’m sorry, they came in so quick, I didn’t-” Ciri babbled, but Elsa cut her off.

“We’re leaving. Now. You said you had a way out of the city?” Ciri nodded. “Take us there. Stay close.” Ciri nodded again and darted into an alleyway. Elsa and Anna followed.

Ciri proved an excellent guide, despite the near constant necessity to stop for a minute or two to let Anna catch her breath. She looked more pale than ever, and Elsa could see that the exertion of the fight and subsequent flight had taken a lot out of her. Her bandaged shoulder was soaked through, and drops of blood littered their path. Nevertheless, Ciri led the way with surprising proficiency through the streets, avoiding crowds or blending into them with equal effectiveness. Even Anna’s injuries went unnoticed, due to the number of people caught in the crossfire of her and Hans’s explosive duel. Ciri may not have been an Assassin like her father, but she had clearly picked up some tricks of the trade. Elsa remembered with bittersweet nostalgia at how he had seemed to appear out of nowhere, save her life, then vanish like smoke on the wind.

Elsa winced around every corner at the carnage laid out before her. Bodies lay in small piles while the survivors picked through rubble, searching for loved ones with frenzied panic. What disturbed Elsa more than the sight was Anna’s passive expression. It seemed like she didn’t even care about the destruction she had wrought, the innocent lives she had snuffed out in the battle. Elsa’s heart seemed to be filled with lead. She was no more innocent than Anna. Civilian casualties both before and after the Fall had been innumerable, and all of that blood was on Elsa’s hands. But the callousness with which Anna observed the consequences of her battle sent chills up Elsa’s spine. Elsa was not the exact same that she was two years prior, but her sister seemed to have become a completely different person.

Soon enough, Ciri led them to her way out, a run down house with a tunnel, hidden behind a bookcase, leading under the wall. Elsa’s questioning look was answered by Ciri indicating another Assassin sigil etched onto the wall of the tunnel. Anna hesitated before entering, but followed Elsa through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only one chapter today, I'm afraid, but it's a doozy, almost 7k words. A lot happens, too. The biggest fear I had after setting up such a rift between the sisters at the end of Part II was resolving it too quickly, so that a reconciliation didn't feel earned. I think I succeeded, and I hope this chapter makes it apparent that they won't be back to how they were just like that. Relationships that fracture take work to stitch back together, both in fiction and in reality, and I tried to capture that here.
> 
> EDIT: So just after posting this chapter I noticed that AO3 has messed with my formatting a bit, putting a space between quotation marks and italiticized words at the beginning of sentences. It is not like this in my original draft. I've corrected this chapter (I think), and will do my best to prevent these types of formatting errors in the future. If you spot any, please point them out! Any corrections I make, I will credit you in the chapter notes. Thanks!
> 
> In my original draft, this is 3 chapters- the "Two Weeks Earlier" bit was its own chapter- but I decided to combine them here as they are all from Elsa's POV anyway, and they aren't really separated (the chapter before this was Elsa's POV as well, but she fell asleep, so it seemed different). Also I'm fucking lazy and didn't want to post three separate chapters when I didn't really have to. See you Tuesday!
> 
> *Note to self- do NOT say "see you NEXT tuesday" to your audience*


	14. Reunions: Kristoff - Explosive Reunion

Two days after Anna and Hans’s apocalyptic duel, Kristoff arrived at Arendelle. He had just taken a seat against a tree after setting up camp about a mile from the city, reaching into his pack for some of the venison jerky he’d made, when something very strange happened. A girl, maybe ten years old, her hair black as midnight, with a gray dress and no shoes, stepped out of the shadows into the light of Kristoff’s small campfire, then just stood there, looking at him. Kristoff stared at her. He blinked, very deliberately, twice, but she was still there. His brain chugged along, trying to make sense of the sight.

“Hello?” Kristoff said at last. “Um… Do you need help?” The girl did not speak, but nodded and turned around, walking back into the dark woods. Kristoff stared after her. “Yeah, I don’t think so,” Kristoff muttered, beginning to pack his things as quickly and quietly as he could. He’d find somewhere else to camp. Somewhere very far in the opposite direction. 

He’d just finished stuffing the rest of his tent into his bag when he heard his name. “ _Kristoff_ …” Despite the quietness of the whisper, the word seemed to cut across Kristoff’s mind. He jumped and looked around. The girl was poking her head around a tree, her eyebrows meeting in an annoyed frown. Alarm shot through Kristoff. If she knew who he was, there was little doubt this was a bad situation to be in. But then again, if it was a trap, why hadn’t they waited until he had gone to sleep? Why send this little girl, barefoot, to lure him somewhere? He was already deep in the woods. Before he could puzzle out his next move, the girl whispered again.

“ _I_ _know where Anna is… I’ll take you to her…_ ”

“What?” Kristoff gasped, dumbstruck. It was as though all logical thought flew out his ears at her words. It didn’t matter if it was a trap anymore. She’d recognized him, and said she knew where Anna was. There was no way Kristoff wouldn’t follow her now, just in case it was true. He slung his pack over his shoulder and walked forward, his steps slow and hitching at first, then quickening. The girl turned back around and ran into the woods, her long black hair flowing out behind her, and Kristoff broke into a jog to keep up, one hand on his blade to keep it from bouncing around. He followed the girl deeper and deeper through the twisted trees, and he noticed that though her feet were bare, they were not being bloodied by the many sticks and brambles that littered the forest floor. A sense of unease came over Kristoff then, and he almost turned back around, but the possibility of finding Anna again after so long was too alluring, and he ran on. 

He had been jogging along for close to fifteen minutes, and the girl had not once paused to catch her breath, nor had she slowed in the slightest. She made almost no noise as her feet padded along the ground, with only the odd swaying of a branch acting as proof of her presence. When she disappeared mid-stride, it took Kristoff another four or five steps for his brain to catch up with what his eyes had just told it. He stopped, staring at where he had last seen her, his jaw hanging open. She had not lost him, she had not slowly faded, she had not wisped away as though smoke, she had just… vanished. Here one instant, her foot just about to touch down, gone the next, with no fanfare whatsoever. Kristoff stood very still, his mind slow to understand, and in the silence, he heard something. Faint- incredibly faint- voices, somewhere to the south, even deeper into the heart of the forest. He understood, on some base level, that the girl, whoever and whatever she was, had led him here because of whoever was speaking, and though his conscious mind refused to entertain the idea that it was Anna, his heart leapt to his throat and pounded there. He crept closer to the sound, and caught glimpses of a flickering light near the source.

He was about fifty yards away when he felt the point of a sword on his back.

“Identify yourself!” _That voice… I know that voice._

“ _Elsa?_ ”

“ _Kristoff?_ ” The sword left his back, and Kristoff watched as Elsa stepped around in front of him, eyes wide and mouth agape, an expression mirrored on his own face. Her hair was shorter than he had ever seen it, and was tied back in a messy bun. She wore a simple cloth shirt and pants with leather bracers on her forearms, and carried a short blade that looked like it hadn’t been polished in- well, ever. If Kristoff’s mind had been working slow before, now it ground to a halt. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. A ghostly little girl had led him through the woods to someone he had been certain was long dead. As far as strange nights go, this one might just take the cake. He couldn’t think of anything to say. What did you say?

He was saved from having to think of anything by Elsa throwing herself at him, wrapping her arms around him, and burying her face in his chest, tears already soaking through the fabric. “I’m so sorry!” she sobbed, her words muffled.

Kristoff returned the gesture, putting his arms around her in a soft embrace. “Long time no see, Els.” She pulled her head back and looked up at him. Though her eyes were red, they were shining.

“I found Anna, Kristoff. She’s right back there.” She pointed towards the flickering light, and Kristoff could hear someone coming towards them.

“Elsa? Are you crying? Is everything okay?” The sound of his wife’s voice, painfully unfamiliar, sent a lightning bolt up Kristoff’s spine. Before he had any more time to prepare, Anna stepped into view, and Kristoff’s stalled brain caught fire.

“I told you to wai-” Anna stopped mid-word as her eyes landed on Kristoff. An icy spike ran through Kristoff’s heart as her teal eyes locked onto his. Her shoulder was bandaged with clean white cloth, and her arm was in a sling. Her mouth dropped open in a perfect O, and she stared, unblinking, at Kristoff. Elsa broke away from him and stood to the side, her eyes darting back and forth, arms around her middle, chewing on her bottom lip as she waited for either of them to speak.

Kristoff spoke first. “I missed you, Anna.” It was all his charred mind could conjure up to say. Anna launched herself forward. Kristoff instinctively raised his arms to embrace her, and then Anna punched him on the nose. He reeled back and clapped a hand to his face. He could feel blood welling up beneath his fingers. He saw Elsa leap between them, wrapping her arms around Anna’s middle, wrestling her away as she tried to hit Kristoff again.

“Whad de hell was dat for?” Kristoff shouted, dancing just out of Anna’s reach while Elsa tried to restrain her. 

“You son of a bitch!” Anna cried, straining to break out of Elsa’s grip. Kristoff retreated further as he saw Elsa’s feet slide forward.

“Calm down, Anna!” Elsa gasped.

“Two years!” Anna screamed, looking quite deranged, her eyes full of anger and hatred. ”Two years I’ve been on my own, and all you can say is you missed me? You lied to me!”

“And you abandoned me!” Kristoff bellowed, firing up himself, flicking the blood off his hand and sending it spattering across the underbrush. He stomped closer, shouting, “I’ve been looking for you the entire time, do you even realize that?”

“I don’t care!” Anna roared, and a burst of twisting flame and acrid smoke erupted from Anna. The heat hit Kristoff like a thunderclap, his chest vibrating with its explosive magnitude. His feet left the ground and he tumbled through the air, landing hard ten feet away from where he had been standing. The front of his clothes were burning, and he batted at them in a panicked daze.

“Anna, no!” Elsa screamed, and she heaved Anna away from Kristoff, sending her tumbling to the ground, then raised her hand and shot a cooling flurry of snow at Kristoff, smothering the flames before they could spread. Kristoff sat up and stared at Anna, the smell of burnt fur and leather overwhelming his senses, stinging his eyes with the acrid smoke. Anna was down on one knee, holding her shoulder and gritting her teeth in pain.

“A-A-A… Y-y-” He couldn’t form the words. Anna had magic. Anna had fire magic. Anna had used fire magic. Anna had used fire magic… on him. Anna struggled to her feet, then spun on her heel and walked back towards the flickering campfire, leaving Elsa and Kristoff alone. Kristoff gaped at Elsa, who dropped her arm, then stood as still as a statue in the moonlight. Maybe it was a dream? His throbbing nose, dripping blood on his shirt, seemed to suggest otherwise. _Not a dream_. 

The remnants of Kristoff’s desecrated brain began chugging back to life. Less than twenty minutes ago, he had been convinced that he would never see Anna or Elsa again. Then a magical disappearing girl led him to them, and if that hadn’t been enough, his wife’s fiery temper was now matched with _literal_ _fire_ , which made their reunion, something Kristoff had always assumed would be an ugly affair, a case of actual life-or-death. _Great. At least Elsa hasn’t tried to kill you yet_.

“Elsa?” She jumped at her name, as though she had forgotten Kristoff was there. It appeared he wasn’t the only one who was trying to get their brain started back up.

“Huh?” She looked down at him. “Oh, sorry. It’s just…” She trailed off, but Kristoff got the point.

“Yeah.”

Elsa nodded as she flopped down to the ground, leaning against a tree. “It’s all happening so fast… two years go by, none of us seeing the others, then within a week the three of us are together again?”

This didn’t sound right to Kristoff, and he frowned. “Three of us?” It clicked. “Oh god, where’s Heins? Is he…?”

“No. At least, I don’t think so. I imagine if he’s still alive, we’ll be seeing him again soon.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Just a feeling. How did you find us, Kristoff?” Kristoff was unnerved by her answer, but replied all the same.

“Well, I actually didn’t find you. I was on the way to Arendelle to try to track the fire magician- Anna, I guess?” he prompted, and Elsa nodded. “But then, a few minutes ago…” He trailed off. What he was about to say sounded crazy. How did you explain the vanishing girl without sounding insane? Then again, Elsa had once created sentient life by accident and his estranged wife could conjure flames from nothing, so maybe insane was relative. “A girl came to me. A young girl, maybe-”

“Ten years old, barefoot, wearing a grey dress, she led you here then vanished.” Elsa finished Kristoff’s sentence in a monotone. He stared at her. Her eyes were closed, and her face was blank.

“How did you-”

“I knew because the same girl came to me. It’s how I found Anna. And something tells me Anna’s seen her too, though if she has, she hasn’t mentioned it yet.” Elsa fixed Kristoff with a level stare. Her eyes had taken on a cold, calculating edge as she said, “Someone is moving us around like pieces on a chessboard, and I don’t like it.” A chill that had nothing to do with the cool night air ran up Kristoff’s spine. 

“Who do you think it is?”

“I don’t know. But we need to find out. Come on.” Elsa got to her feet, but Kristoff hesitated.

“Um… she just tried to set me on fire, Els.”

Elsa couldn’t quite suppress the grin that spread across her face. “She didn’t mean to, Kristoff. She still loves you. The first thing she asked about was you.”

Kristoff somewhat doubted this. “She abandoned me, Elsa.”

Elsa looked down. “She abandoned all of us. And we abandoned her. And we abandoned each other.” Elsa stuck her hand out and Kristoff took it, pulling himself to his feet. She wrestled with some words before shrugging. “It doesn’t matter. We can’t change the past. We have to move on. With my powers, and Anna’s, and… well, we may have a chance to fix all of this.” Kristoff met Elsa’s eyes, and there was an icy determination there. “We have to.”


	15. Reunions: Kristoff - The Sisters' Tales

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: Discussion of a suicide attempt (not graphic).

“This is Cirilla,” Elsa said as Elsa and Kristoff approached the campfire, gesturing to the young woman clambering to her feet. “She helped us escape the city.” Anna was sitting on her own off to the side, her back to them, staring off into the darkness. For a brief moment, Kristoff considered saying something to her, but decided against it. Instead, he thanked Cirilla and introduced himself (“Just Ciri is fine, Your Highness”), then sat down on a log, his head still spinning. Ciri busied herself readying a stew that Kristoff had tried to politely decline, not wanting to cause her trouble, despite his hunger. Elsa sat down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked over and saw her eyes full of sympathy. She nudged him towards Anna, and he cocked an eyebrow. A shrug was his only answer. Kristoff sighed. He got to his feet and saw Elsa bite her lip, her eyes flicking back and forth between him and Anna’s back. She gave him an encouraging gesture in Anna’s direction, her eyes hopeful.

Kristoff crept over to where Anna sat, not entirely sure she wouldn’t try to set him on fire again. She did not move or react as he approached. “Um… Anna?” He became aware that though Ciri was still preparing his meal, she was watching them from the corner of her eye. When Anna did not reply, he continued. “I’m so sorry, Anna. For everything.” Kristoff stared out into the cool night air. “I never should have kept anything from you.” Anna mumbled something, still not looking at him. “Huh?”

“I said I didn’t… I didn’t mean to… mean to... did I burn you?”

“No, I’m okay.” Anna nodded, but still did not look at him. “I’m sorry I never found you, Anna.”

“It’s fine.” Her voice was dull and lifeless.

Kristoff looked around, noticing Ciri hastily averting her eyes, and saw Elsa giving him a significant look. She held her palm out and created a snowy imitation of a fire, then gestured for him to talk to Anna again. He got the message.

“So… how did you get fire magic?” She took a deep breath.

“Elsa? Can you come over here please?” Kristoff looked back to see Elsa looking confused, but she climbed to her feet and crossed the camp to stand by Kristoff, appearing unsure if she should stand next to him or sit next to her sister. Kristoff jerked his head toward Anna, and Elsa nodded, taking a seat next to her. “Ciri? You can listen too, if you want.”

“A-are you sure, Your Highness?”

“It’s Anna. And yes, come on.”

Elsa looked even more confused as Ciri stirred the stew once more before coming to stand next to Kristoff. “Have you seen the girl, Kristoff?” Anna asked. 

Kristoff and Elsa exchanged a surprised glance. “I have. It’s-”

“How you found us, yes,” Anna finished for him. “Elsa saw her too. And… so have I.”

“I thought so,” Elsa sighed. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Anna whipped her head around and glared at Elsa, who shrank back a little. “Oh… right.”

Anna turned around to face the group. She was thin and gaunt, the shadows and flickering light behind her revealing hollow cheeks and a sharp jawline. Worse, she had a look in her eyes that frightened Kristoff. There was a cold emptiness to them. She was always so bright and full of life and love, but now, looking into her eyes, Kristoff saw a blank darkness, a look of someone who had all but given up, and was just going through the motions. All together, it gave the effect of someone who was half here, only existing because she had yet to die, not living. It broke his heart. Then Anna began to speak.

“So… I have the fire spirit. Elsa, you have the ice spirit.” She said this, then just watched her sister, who stared back, her expression blank. Kristoff was lost, two sentences into Anna’s story. Not a great start.

“Huh?” Elsa said after a few seconds. Anna sighed.

“It’s a long story. It was about a year ago…” 

As Anna spoke, Kristoff listened, but he also peered at her, inspected her. She spoke with none of her usual enthusiasm or intonation, she was just reciting her story in a level voice. Here was a woman who had been beaten down to nothing by the world, and Kristoff hadn’t been there to help her weather the storm. His feelings of sorrow, regret, loss, and guilt rose with every flat word from Anna’s lips. He had found Anna, at long last, but was there any of his wife even still alive?

“That’s when I started reading the journals,” Anna was saying. “Do any of you know of the Ancients?” Everyone else shook their heads. “Okay, well… The Ancients were said to be the ones who were here before us.”

“What, like Romans or something like that?” Kristoff asked, but Anna shook her head.

“No. Way before them. The Ancients weren’t even human, exactly. The legends go that they had a grand civilization, stretching for thousands of years of peace and prosperity. They built their civilization using powerful magic, using great machines to absorb the power of nature and use it for their own ends.”

“What happened to them?” asked Ciri, looking awed.

“The magic they were gathering began to take form. They were harnessing and enslaving the power of the elements, so elements started to fight back. Eventually, there were four, in opposite pairs.” Anna plucked a stick off the ground, and drew four diamonds in the dirt. 

In one of them, she drew a triangle pointing down with a circle above it, and a horizontal line between them, then gestured toward it. “Titan, the Earth Spirit. The most determined. He would tirelessly work to overcome obstacles, no matter how long it took.” 

In another diamond, she drew an arrow pointing down, with two dots above it. “Valefor, the Wind Spirit. The freest of the four, he used creativity to circumvent problems where Titan’s brute force failed, while still relying on Titan when force was the only option.” 

Inside the third diamond, she drew three more diamonds, nested inside each other. “Then, there’s Ifrit, the Fire Spirit. He was the driving force behind the other spirits, propelling them forward in their anger.” 

The last diamond got the shape of a water droplet and a circle beneath it. “And Shiva, the Ice Spirit. The compassionate one. Her ice tempered Ifrit’s rage, and Ifrit provided the drive to do what must be done.” 

When she finished, she tossed the stick into the darkness. Kristoff glanced at Elsa, and saw her staring at Anna- no,  _ through _ Anna-, her eyes wide, but Anna didn’t seem to notice. Her eyes were full of something that looked like panic. Before Kristoff could ask her what was wrong, Anna continued.

“The Ancients tried to calm the spirits at first, and built great temples to each of them. It worked for a little while, and the Ancients and Spirits worked together to build their civilization to even greater heights. But eventually, the temptation for more power became too great, and the Ancients tried to take the Spirit’s magic by force once more. There was a great war, and in the end, both the Ancients and the Spirits were wiped out.” She chuckled, but the dry tone and lack of humor made it sound like nails on a chalkboard to Kristoff. “Or at least that’s what the legends say.

“Whoever this researcher was, he knew where the Ancient Temples to the Ice and Fire Spirits were. He didn’t say where the Ice Temple was, but he did say where the Fire Temple was. Corona. So I went there.”

“You’ve been to Corona?” Kristoff asked, shocked. Even Ciri looked as surprised as Kristoff was. Corona was where Hedvik, one of the surviving brothers and the most cruel of Hans’s governors, had taken control, ruling the province with an iron fist. Even Kristoff usually gave Corona a wide berth. Anyone loyal to the old Kingdoms did not die easily there. Anna just nodded. She gave no indication of caring how much danger she had been in there, though Kristoff knew she had to be aware. A chill crept up his spine. What had happened to Anna? He glanced back at Elsa, and saw her expression had not changed. Wherever her mind was, it wasn’t here. He had just opened his mouth to speak, but then Anna kept going.

“It took about a year, but I found the temple. I went inside, and then… I can’t really remember what happened next. I just remember falling, and fire, and… anyway, I woke up outside the temple, and, well…” She held up her hand, and a flame crackled there. She dismissed it with a flick of her wrist. Ciri looked awed, and Elsa still had that vacant, glazed look of panic.

“Unite the four…” Elsa whispered.

“Hmm?” Anna turned to face her sister, and blinked in surprise when she saw Elsa’s distress. “What’s wrong?”

Elsa took a deep breath. Her hands, which were clasped in front of her, were trembling. “I need…” She paused. She looked up at the night sky, trying to collect herself. “I need to tell you all something… When I saw the girl... and she led me to Anna… that wasn’t the first time I saw her.”

“Excuse me?” Anna said, her voice low and dangerous, scowling at her sister. “You’re  _ still _ hiding things from me?”

“Stop, please,” Elsa whimpered, hanging her head and staring at the ground. “I promise, Anna, I’m not hiding anything! I just… hadn’t told you this part yet… because… well...” Anna made an impatient gesture. “Right… After the Fall, I… well… it was when I… um...”

“Spit it out, Elsa,” Anna demanded.

“I… When I saw her, it was when… I mean, it was right after...” Elsa stammered. Kristoff had never seen Elsa so distressed, not even after days of torture. She swallowed hard, and then, very quickly, said, “I tried to kill myself.” Elsa sat silently after this, folding her hands in her lap and staring down at them. Anna blinked and leaned back. The anger faded from her face, and Kristoff knew her well enough, even still, to see the deep shame that crossed it now. Kristoff and Ciri both stared at Elsa. A heavy silence had fallen over the camp. Even the crackling fire seemed quieter, muffled by the air itself.

“Damn, Els…” Kristoff said. He knew,  _ knew _ , it wasn’t the right thing to say, but he desperately wanted to fill this silence before it suffocated them all, and it was the first thing that came to mind.

Elsa’s words were mumbled and difficult to hear, and yet, somehow, Kristoff had no trouble understanding her. “I didn’t see a point in going on…. I’d failed you all…. I’d failed Arendelle…. I’d failed everyone.” She raised her head, turning around to look directly into Anna’s eyes. “I failed you, Anna. I was so ashamed.... I didn’t want to…. be… anymore. And I knew anyone I was around would be in danger, more danger than they could understand. So I went to the North Mountain, and I waited to die.” Anna slid closer to Elsa and put her arm around her sister, entwining the fingers of her other hand in one of Elsa’s. Kristoff took slow steps over beside Elsa and sat down on her other side, taking Elsa’s other hand in his own. He thought about putting his arm around her, but if he did, he would be touching Anna as well, and he didn’t think he could handle that right now. Ciri hovered near the tree where Kristoff had been standing, not sure how to react to this unexpected turn. It was obvious that she wanted to help support Elsa if she could, but she didn’t seem to know if it would be appreciated or seem intrusive. She had just begun to slink back towards the fire when Anna addressed her.

“Ciri, you saved both of our lives. Get over here.”

“She did?” Kristoff asked, bewildered. Elsa nodded, wiping her eyes with the back of the hand that held Anna's, and for the first time, a tiny smile flitted across Anna’s face. It filled Kristoff with indescribable joy at its brightness and sincerity, and a profound sadness at how quickly the smile faded, to be replaced with the hollow look of the woman who was existing because she hadn’t yet died, and for no reason more.

“Tell you later. Come on, Ciri.” Ciri came over to the small group, kneeling down in front of Elsa, so that the three of them formed a sort of circle around her. Kristoff studied Ciri as she moved. Young though she was, with all the lanky awkwardness of youth, she carried herself with surprising grace and poise. It reminded him very much of Elsa. In fact, it was almost uncanny. Then again, as she reached out with a trembling hand to place it on Elsa’s back, clumsily petting her before blushing and withdrawing, he was amused to see an equal part of Anna in her movements.

When Ciri got settled, Elsa continued. “When I got up there, I just sort of… waited. I’d… tried to do this before. More directly. But I never could go through with it.” Her voice shook, and her hand that was holding Kristoff’s trembled in his grip. He gave it a reassuring squeeze, which he felt returned. She took a shuddering breath, then continued. “I couldn’t do it. So… I tried to just… die. But… this damn curse…”

“The cold never bothered you,” Anna said, her voice soft, low, and understanding, but it was a good thing Elsa wasn’t looking at her. None of her tone reached her eyes.

Elsa laughed and sniffled, wiping her eyes on her shoulder, not letting go of either Kristoff or Anna. “No, it didn’t. I realized pretty quick it’s hard to freeze to death when you’re immune to cold.” Elsa laughed harder, and Kristoff, Anna, and Ciri exchanged uncomfortable looks. Were they supposed to laugh along? Would that be insulting? How the hell were they supposed to act? To Kristoff’s relief, Elsa’s laughter was short-lived, and she continued. “I decided to just wait until I died, not of freezing, but whatever did it first. I was on the mountain for five days.”

“Oh, Elsa…” Anna sighed. 

“On the fifth night… I saw her. And she… showed me things.... She showed me…” Elsa trailed off and hung her head as a few small sobs escaped her. Tears dripped from the end of her nose and landed on the dirt, making tiny star shapes in the dust. They all waited, knowing there would be no point in trying to rush Elsa to say whatever it was she would say next.

After a minute or so, Elsa collected herself. With her head still hung low, but with no more tears for now, she continued. “She showed me… the future. I don’t know if it was really the future, but… I think it was. She showed me… You-” she moved her hand within Kristoff’s -“and you-” Anna’s hand moved up and down slightly- “and Heins-” All at once, Kristoff knew where this was going.

“Elsa, you don’t have to-” he interjected, but she was already shaking her head.

“No, no… I have to… I need to say this… I need to…”

“Okay, okay,” Anna said as she shot Kristoff an angry glare, and he had to bite back a defensive retort. Was he supposed to read Elsa’s mind? Or Anna’s?

“You were…” Elsa began, then sniffed and took a shaky breath. “You were all captured, and… you were on a gallows… in Arendelle...” Kristoff’s mind was screaming at him. He didn’t want Elsa to continue. He couldn’t listen to this. He almost said something again, but suppressed the urge in the nick of time. This wasn’t about him. This was about Elsa, and he loved Elsa. He could do it for her. He shoved the escalating panicked feeling aside. “Hans had you all hanged… and everyone was cheering, but I still heard your necks break… except…” Kristoff’s blood chilled. He knew what Elsa would say next. He knew what happened when someone as light as Anna got hung.

“Anna’s didn’t…” Kristoff said before he could think better of it. Elsa nodded and burst into fresh tears, rocking back and forth in the memory of the terrible vision. Ciri was pale, her gaze fixed on Elsa, but Anna looked at him, eyes narrowed. He looked away, realizing too late that it would do nothing to allay her suspicion, enhancing it if anything.

“It was… so horrible… so  _ real _ ...” Elsa gasped between sobs. She clutched at Kristoff and Anna’s hands like a drowning man clutching at a rope. Anna reached out and took Ciri’s hand with her free hand, then pulled it towards the one that held Elsa’s. She gave Kristoff a leading look, and he reached forward and joined hands with the other three, so that all six of their hands were intertwined around both of Elsa’s. They sat like this for quite a while, while Elsa’s grief, fear, and stress came pouring out of her. So great was her distress that Kristoff could see ice beginning to form beneath Elsa’s feet, spiraling out in a pattern equal parts beautiful and chaotic. Slowly, Elsa’s breathing slowed down, and the twisted patches of ice receded bit by bit until nothing of them remained. 

Eventually, she sat up and gently extricated her hands from her family’s, then used them to wipe her eyes. “I’m sorry… I know it’s stupid to cry over a dream-”

“No it’s not,” Ciri, Anna, and Kristoff all said at almost the same instant. They exchanged a glance, then shared shaky, uneasy laughter for a few seconds, but it was enough to break the pall that had fallen since Elsa began recounting her experience on the North Mountain. Even Elsa managed to choke out a few watery giggles.

“After that, she spoke to me,” Elsa continued, and she seemed better, purer somehow. Her eyes had regained some of the gleam that Kristoff had not even noticed was missing. Some small part of the pain she had been shouldering for two years had been shared, and in doing so, she had cleansed herself of part of it. Not all, but enough. “She told me that it wasn’t too late to save you all. To save you, Anna. But she told me to ‘unite the four’. I didn’t know what she meant until now. We need to find the other spirits and pass the trials.”

Kristoff expected her to continue, as this didn’t seem a complete plan. When no continuation was forthcoming, he spoke up. “So we find the other spirits, who goes through the trials?”

Before either Elsa or Anna could respond, Ciri said, “Isn’t it obvious?” They all looked at her, and she blushed a bright crimson and stared at the ground. “Sorry. That was rude, and it’s not my place.”

“How many more times do we have to go through this, Ciri? Not only are we not even royalty anymore, I for one would have insisted you call me just ‘Anna’ before all this, and even then, you’ve  _ saved our lives _ . You are as good as one of us, as far as I’m concerned.”

“Me too,” Elsa said. They both looked at Kristoff expectantly.

“Undecided. Just met her tonight.” He flashed Ciri a grin to let her know he was joking, and was relieved to see it returned, if a little bashfully. He decided he liked Ciri. She reminded him of himself when he had first gotten involved with Anna. It took a very long time before he got used to treating Princesses and Queens like regular people (especially Elsa, though that was probably because he was courting her sister), and even longer for him to get used to being treated like a Prince.

“I just thought… It meant you and the King.”

“Not that I have any reason to  _ dis _ agree,” Elsa said, looking thoughtful, her eyes still a little red. “But why do you say that?”

“The girl, whatever she is, told you to unite the four to prevent that vision from coming true, right?” Elsa nodded. “Then she led Princess Anna-” Anna groaned, but Ciri plowed on- “to the Fire Spirit, then you to her. That unites two of the spirits. Then, she leads Prince Kristoff-”

“Now you’re just doing it on purpose,” mumbled Anna.

“-to you two. Don’t you think it’s too much of a coincidence to not be connected?”

“It is pretty strange,” Kristoff agreed.

“Then the next one would be the King… wouldn’t it?” She had been speaking with confidence, but it withered away to nothing with these last words. Anna was nodding slowly, a thoughtful expression on her face, but Elsa’s expression was guarded. Kristoff gave her a nudge and cocked his head, but she just shook hers and looked away. Kristoff thought he knew what was going on. She didn’t dare hope that she’d be reunited with Heins.

“You might be right, kiddo, but I don’t know if it matters,” Kristoff said, covering the moment, and Elsa’s expression softened and relaxed a little. Ciri’s expression changed too, her lips curling in a tiny smile at Kristoff’s nickname for her. “We don’t have any idea where the other spirits are. Even if you’re right, and Heins shows up, then what? Hope the girl turns up again?”

“Not necessarily. Look at this.” Anna bent down and took something from a bag near her leg, then placed it in Elsa’s hands. “Look inside.” Kristoff looked down and saw that it was a book, a very old, faded book. Symbols- runes, maybe- were inscribed on the cover and the beat-up spine. Elsa opened it carefully to keep the binding from falling the rest of the way apart, and all of them except Anna leaned in to see what was inside- writing that he didn’t recognize. It was an elegant, flowing script, but to his eyes, it was nothing but gibberish. He didn’t even recognize the letters. From Elsa’s perplexed frown and Ciri’s abject confusion, he gathered they didn’t either.

“What is this?” Elsa asked.

“That’s a book from the researcher’s library. It’s written in the Ancient language. I believe it’s what he translated to find the Ice and Fire Temples. I think the locations of the others might be in there too.”

“Can you read Ancient?” Kristoff asked. Anna shook her head.

“No.”

“So how does this help us?” 

Anna glared at him. “Just because I don’t doesn’t mean no one does,” she said, a hint of malice in her tone, which saddened Kristoff still further. What the hell had  _ happened _ to Anna? “Whoever this researcher was could translate it. I’m willing to bet he’s not the only one who could.”

“How do we find someone who can?” Elsa asked. No one had an answer for that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a lore dump here, but I tried to make it interesting with the stories and reactions of the others. 
> 
> I do want to address Elsa's confession of her suicide attempt. It was written to be authentic enough to be plausible/believable, but not quite authentic enough to really be too upsetting. I didn't throw it in for no reason, it is a large part of what Elsa has gone through and why she is the way she is, but while I don't exactly think I'm a BAD writer, I definitely don't think I'm a thoughtful or insightful enough writer to truly do justice to a topic like that, so I did not try. If that seems disrespectful, I do apologize. If suicide is something you struggle with, know that there are people out there who care, and the world would be a little less bright without you in it. Before you do anything you can't take back, call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 if you're in the US, or check the list at http://www.suicide.org/international-suicide-hotlines.html for international numbers.
> 
> Sorry for the somber tone here. Back to your regularly scheduled bullshit on Thursday. See you then.


	16. Reunions: Heins - Vision

“ _ Heins… _ ” 

The whisper woke Heins at once. He opened his eyes and sat up, muscles tense, his eyes scanning his tent for any hint of movement. He saw nothing. He grabbed his sword and got to his feet, ducking out of the flap and stepping into the small camp they had erected on the third day since the fire magician had made his move. He could see the other tents were undisturbed. Who had whispered? He peered around in the dim light from the soon-to-be-risen sun, but saw no hint of anyone. He shrugged to himself. Must have been some remnant of a dream. He turned back around to duck into his tent, and-

A young girl, barefoot and wearing a ratty grey dress, stood there, between Heins and his tent. He stared at her, not comprehending how she could have gotten there without him noticing. She must have passed within inches of him.

“ _ I’m a friend, _ ” the girl whispered. “ _ And I’m sorry. But I don’t have time _ .” Without warning, and with no time to react, she reached a hand out and pressed it to the side of Heins’s head. 

It was as though he was wrenched from his body. Heins vision went higher, like he had just grown several feet in an instant. He looked down and saw his own body slowly- very slowly- toppling to the ground. The girl was nowhere to be seen. Heins tried to move his hands but found that he could not- or rather, that there were no hands to move. He was nothing but a disembodied pair of eyeballs, so far as he could tell, and as he started wondering if the girl had killed him somehow and this was his soul departing this plane, his vision rocketed upward, above the trees, then sped off, back in the direction of Arendelle. Nausea rose in Heins’s nonexistent stomach, but before he could even try to work out what exactly that even meant, his vision jolted to a halt, hovering fifty feet from the top of the trees below him, a couple miles outside Arendelle.

Heins would have screamed, if he had a mouth, as his vision plummeted from the sky in a free fall. Once again, his vision crashed to a jarring halt five feet from the ground in the midst of a collection of three tents, then darted inside one. There, inside the tent, sleeping on her side, was the pale form of his wife. Her face was bruised and there were several half-healed cuts and scrapes along it, but she looked otherwise unhurt. Her hair was much shorter than it had been, and lay in a tousled mess across the bundle of cloth she was using for a pillow. What Heins wouldn’t have given to run his hands through those tangled strands, he did not know. She was not sleeping well, though, tossing and turning, and her eyes moved wildly beneath closed lids on a face twisted in anguish. Beads of sweat shone on her forehead in the dim moonlight.

“Elsa!” Heins cried, or tried to, and perhaps, somehow, he did, for he thought Elsa’s restless movements paused for a moment. “Elsa!” he shouted or thought or something again, and he saw her eyes flutter open, wide with panic, and she bucked in the bed, writhing as though to throw off some invisible assailant, one hand clutching at her throat while the other flailed at nothing, before her body settled and she lay back down, closing her eyes and breathing hard. “Elsa!” Her eyes opened once more, and she sat up in the bed, her eyes darting around the shadows. “Elsa!” Her eyes snapped onto where Heins’s eyes would be, but then they scanned around, searching for the source of whatever sound was managing to cross this surreal barrier.

“Hello?” As the sound of her voice washed over Heins for the first time in two years, a feeling of intense longing surged within his heart. She cocked her head and closed her eyes, listening hard, but as Heins began to call out once more-

Heins opened his eyes to see the Queensguard gathered around him as he lay on his back. He was just outside his tent, and the back of his head throbbed where it had thudded off the ground. The sky was still dark, but Heins couldn’t see stars- it would be dawn soon.

“Heins!” Baldur cried. “What happened? Are you okay?”

Heins sprang to his feet, sending the Queensguard stumbling back to not get in his way. “Pack up,” he ordered. “Ready the horses. We’re leaving. Now.”

He saw the Queensguard exchange glances. “Uh, what is this-” Leila said, but Heins cut her off.

“I know where Elsa is. She’s twenty miles from here. Let’s go.” Heins pulled up one of his tent’s spikes, but stopped when he saw the others hadn’t moved.

“Er… with all due respect,” Alan said, “how could you know that?”

“I’ll let you know when I figure it out,” Heins replied, then looked at each of them in turn, Baldur, Leila, Silas, Alan, then Cari. “Trust me. Please. I  _ know _ where she is. But I don’t think she’ll be there for long. We have to go, now.”

The Queensguard exchanged another skeptical look, but to Heins’s relief and gratitude, they only nodded and set about breaking down their own tents.  _ I’m coming Elsa, _ Heins thought as he worked.  _ Please still be there when I get there _ . Within twenty minutes, he was on his way, the Queensguard at his back, driving his mount as fast as he dared through the dim light of the morning. It was a tremendous threat to the horses, which they had acquired at great risk, but his stomach churned at the thought of missing Elsa because he was too careful.  _ I’m coming, Elsa _ .


	17. Reunions: Elsa - Bad Dreams

Elsa slept. And as she slept, she dreamed. She dreamed of many things, Anna most often. It was her Elsa had wronged the most. She also dreamed of Kristoff, and Olaf, and mom and dad, and, most often after Anna, of Heins. Sometimes, they were pleasant dreams of days gone by. The simple joy of days spent together, speaking no more than a few words but saying so much more, absorbed in their own work, but enjoying each others company, a hand run across Elsa’s back when Heins went to get another cup of coffee, the smell of Heins’s hair as Elsa placed a kiss on it when she crossed the room to fetch a paper she needed. The more exciting joy of Heins teaching her how to fight, and the satisfaction she got from getting better and seeing his obvious pride. The intimate but still joyful moments they shared together at night as they explored each other’s bodies and desires. Elsa waking from these dreams was always a strange feeling for her. The feeling of loss of what once was, regret at the choices she’d made that tore them apart, but also, a feeling of hope of what could be once more, if only she kept moving forward, never giving in, eventually they could find each other again. 

Other times, there were unpleasant dreams. Visions of the horrible future the girl in the grey dress had shown her, of Heins’s neck breaking in the noose, over and over again. Dreams of uncertainty, of loss, of sorrow. Dreams of fear, dreams of dying, cold, alone, and afraid, in some forest or on some mountain, never seeing anyone she loved ever again. Dreams of pain, of a Heins wielding the cat o’ nine tails once more, this time in brutal satisfaction rather than the reluctant horror. Dreams of Heins dying in a thousand ways while Elsa watched, helpless, as the life left his eyes. Dreams of his stare piercing Elsa’s soul unblinking, unseeing, over and over and over again. Elsa invariably woke from these dreams sweaty, panting, and trembling. Tonight it was one of those dreams.

“Elsa? You okay sweetie?” 

Elsa looked up from her book. She sat in her favorite armchair in the castle, her legs tucked up under her. Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun, and a steaming cup of tea sat on the small table next to her. “Hmm? What do you mean?”

Heins sat forward in his own chair, setting aside his book and getting up to walk over to Elsa. He was as casually dressed as she, and they had been enjoying one of their rare days off that lined up together. He knelt down so that they were face to face, then said, “You look troubled. Something on your mind?”

Elsa frowned. “I don’t think so… I mean, other than you,” she finished with a smile, and pulled him into a kiss. When they broke apart, Elsa opened her eyes and began to scream. There, where Heins had just been, there was a bloated corpse, barely recognizable as her husband, his tongue swelled up and protruding from his ruined mouth. Elsa threw herself back, away from the hideous creature, tumbling head over heels out of the chair as it tipped over, then dragged herself away, half-blind with panic. The creature staggered to its feet. Its hair was plastered to green and mottled skin. One eye had burst, hanging out of its socket by a few strands of stringy flesh, but the other was as bright green as it had been in life. Its head was caved in on one side, and she could see wriggling maggots feasting on the brain within. Deep gashes scored the corpse’s limbs and torso, each oozing a yellow pus from swollen boils that pulsated in a way that made bile rise in Elsa’s throat. It raised one rotting arm towards her, an accusatory point from the long dead.

“This is all your fault,” the creature croaked. Its voice was almost as horrible as its appearance. It gurgled up from lungs choked with liquid, and a bubble of black blood popped at the corner of its mouth with every word. Elsa scrambled back, or rather, she tried to. No matter how fast she felt the ground flying away beneath her, the creature got no further away. It got closer. “Your fault…” it gurgled, swaying like a drunkard on decomposed legs. White bone shone through red and black gristle on its thighs. “You abandoned me… and I died… WHY?” It roared this last word, and specks of flesh tore from its throat and spattered across Elsa’s face. It was getting closer now, and Elsa could smell its breath, it choked her, reaching down into her lungs and freezing them with the stench of death, the stench of meat and rot. The hand got closer, the fingers swollen and twisted into claws, and any second now, they would reach her, and who knows what would happen then-

“ _Elsa!_ ”

-and the hand reached her throat and squeezed, cutting into her neck, it was choking her, and she fought, but knew that on some level she deserved this-

“Elsa!”

Elsa’s eyes flew open, and she gasped, clutching at her throat to tear away the claws that were not there. At first, she thought that she had been too slow, and the creature that had been her husband had killed her, but as the fog of sleep lifted, she remembered that it was just a dream, that she was here in the forest with Anna, and Kristoff, and Ciri, and that she was safe. Well, safe from shambling corpses, anyway. Well, safe from shambling corpses for now, anyway. Who knew what terrible magic Hans was capable of at this point? She closed her eyes, trying to calm down, but then heard the faintest whisper, so quiet it was very possible she had just imagined it. One word. “ _Elsa._ ”

Elsa had not survived this long by ignoring her instincts, so she sat up, peering around the tent. Perhaps one of the others had snuck in, for… some reason. Yeah, maybe that was it. But she saw no one. A chill ran up her spine. Could it be the little girl?

“ _Elsa_.” This time, Elsa was sure she had heard something. Her gaze snapped to where it sounded like the voice had come from, but there was no one there.

“Hello?” she called, keeping her voice low and soft in case it had all been a dream. She was sure her heart actually stopped for a moment when she heard the tent flap rustle, and then a young girl poked her head in, but it wasn’t the girl who’d led her to Anna, no, it was-

“Your Majesty?” Ciri whispered, her brow furrowed. “Are you alright?” 

“Yes,” Elsa whispered back. “Did you need something?” Ciri shook her head, and Elsa frowned. “Then why did you say my name?”

Ciri’s questioning look intensified. “I didn’t, Your Majesty.” She hesitated for a moment, then stepped into the tent, her hands folded in front of her. “Are you sure you’re alright, Your Majesty?”

“I don’t know,” Elsa admitted, rubbing her face. “I thought I heard…” she trailed off, then shook her head and looked at Ciri with what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “I’m okay, Ciri. Bad dream I guess. Thank you. And please call me Elsa.”

Ciri smiled. “Sorry, Elsa. Um… I’ll let you get back to sleep-”

“Wait,” Elsa said, sliding along the bed and sitting up straighter. “Are _you_ okay?”

“Of course,” she said, before Elsa had even finished the question. 

Elsa let out a small giggle. “Not very convincing, I’m afraid. Come here,” Elsa said, patting the bed beside her.

Ciri shook her head. “No, Your Majesty, I’m fine, really, I couldn’t impose-”

“Ciri. It’s okay, come here,” Elsa repeated, patting the bed again. Ciri looked conflicted, but she took slow steps towards Elsa and lowered herself gingerly onto the bed next to her. “I don’t bite, Ciri,” Elsa said, trying her best to look comforting, and Ciri’s posture loosened a little. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t fall asleep.”

Elsa sighed. “I can imagine. Is there something I can do?” 

Ciri shook her head, then put her elbows on her knees, resting her face in her hands. “I’m just… this is a lot to take in.”

“I’m sorry we got you involved in this, Ciri.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not,” Elsa insisted. “But that’s sweet of you to say.” She paused, and then said, “Is there somewhere safe we can take you? Any family anywhere?”

Ciri rocked back and looked at the ceiling, shaking her head. She kept looking around restlessly, as though trying to find some measure of calm hidden in the shadows. “My father was my only family. I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

“Oh, Ciri,” Elsa murmured. “I’m so sorry.” She reached out and took one of Ciri’s hands in hers, and Ciri returned the gesture, holding on tight to Elsa’s hand. She could feel it trembling ever so slightly. “You saved my life, and my sister’s. I can never thank you enough for that, but I can promise you I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Ciri smiled, and for the first time, Elsa saw that the smile reached her eyes, filling them with the youth that they should always have. Elsa silently promised herself that she would not stop fighting until Ciri, and all the youth of all the Empire, looked like that all the time.

“Thank you,” Ciri said, then failed to stifle a yawn. “I’m going to try to go to sleep now.” She stood up, and she looked a little calmer than she had. _At least I didn’t make it worse_ , Elsa thought.

“Okay, Ciri. If you need anything, wake me up. Okay?”

Ciri looked like she wanted to say something, but then just nodded. “Okay. Thank you, Your Majesty.” She curtsied and left the tent. Elsa watched her go, not really sure what she was feeling. Except exhaustion. That part she was sure of, and though it took a little while (the dream had been horrible, and the awful smell of rotted meat kept drifting through Elsa’s mind), she was eventually able to fall into a mercifully dreamless sleep.


	18. Reunions: Elsa - An Unexpected Meeting

When Elsa woke near dawn the following day, she did something that she hadn’t done in a long time. 

She woke up, feeling more refreshed than usual. Every time she suffered a nightmare during the night, the next morning felt like she hadn’t slept at all. Today was different. She felt good, well rested. So good that, for one brief moment, she forgot where she was.

She reached out for Heins.

Only a second or two went by of her patting the thin lump that passed for a mattress out here before she realized that Heins was not there. Normally, on the rare occasions when this happened, sadness and loneliness flooded her body. She would almost always cry, sobbing through the morning until she could get it together enough to drag herself out of bed. The day would be full of loneliness and heartbreak, the pain of Heins’s absence made more clear than ever, no, not even just Heins’s absence, but anyone, any human contact at all, sending her back into the maelstrom of pain and sadness from just after the Fall. Today was different.

She sat up. The wave of loneliness she expected did not come. Her eyes were dry. Paradoxically, the fact that she wasn’t sad, made her sad. Did this mean she was forgetting Heins? Was she forgetting how much she had loved him? Why wasn’t she sadder?

Elsa swung her legs off the side of the mattress and sat there for a moment, holding her head in her hands, before she started pulling on her boots. She was grateful that she wasn’t feeling so hopeless, but she was frustrated that she couldn’t figure out  _ what _ she was feeling. She had dreamed a terrible dream of death and fear, and had been able to fall back asleep. She woke up searching for Heins, and for some reason, wasn’t sad about it. What the hell was going on? Was she just losing her mind completely now? Disassociating from her emotions once and for all, and she’d never get them back?

There was a commotion outside. She heard footsteps padding around the camp. Before she could do more than slide off the mattress in a crouch, the flap to her tent flew open and Kristoff knelt there, eyes alert and sword out. “Someone’s coming,” he hissed. “This way.” He darted back outside, and Elsa followed. Anna and Ciri were already near the edge of the camp. Anna had her sword drawn, and Ciri held a bow that Kristoff must have had- neither she nor Anna had one at the moment. As they moved, Elsa created a sword for herself. When she and Kristoff reached the others, Anna and Ciri turned and moved deeper into the woods.

“What’s going on?” Elsa whispered, as they all dropped onto a knee once they had gotten around fifty yards from the camp. “How did you know someone’s coming?”

“Eyes in the sky,” Kristoff said, pointing up. Elsa peered above the treetops, and saw an eagle soaring there.

“Gareth?!” Elsa blurted, a little too loudly, and she was met with two intense shushes. 

“Yes. He warned me. There’s a group of riders heading towards us, fast. No colors. Probably Empire.”

“What’s the play?” Anna asked. Elsa was glad to see that despite the clear tension between all three of them, they could still work together- at the very least when they might die otherwise. 

“They have horses,” Kristoff said. “Running is out. We wait, watch, ambush if they’re Empire. Ciri, you know how to use that?”

“Uh- I mean- I hunt deer-” Ciri stammered, her hands trembling.

“Good, same principle- don’t use it unless you have to- stay hidden, got it?” Though Kristoff had given the instructions, Ciri was looking at Elsa as she nodded. “Good.”

The four of them settled in to wait. Before even a minute had passed, they could hear pounding hoofbeats reach their camp. It was a good thing that Gareth was watching over them, they never would have had enough warning otherwise. The lead rider dismounted and looked around. Elsa’s breath caught. It... was Heins! His auburn hair gleamed in the morning sun, just a shade darker than Anna’s. 

“Heins!” Elsa burst out, then bounded forward. She was aware of Anna and Kristoff calling for her to wait and rushing after her, but she didn’t heed them. Heins was here! She tore through the underbrush as fast as she could, calling his name again. She saw him turn, saw his face break into a wide grin at the sight of her. That was when the first arrow struck her in the abdomen.

It felt like she had been punched in the gut. Her mouth dropped open and she stumbled to a stop, staring down at the feathered shaft of an arrow protruding from her stomach, just below her ribs on the left side. She stared at it, confused. She could see bright crimson dripping from the tip sticking out of her back. Waves of sharp pain radiated from the spot. She looked back up. Heins was still smiling. The man next to him was already drawing his bow for a second shot. She saw it coming this time. She seemed to even see the flex of the arrow, bending back and forth in a sinister hypnotic rhythm. This one buried itself in the flesh of her right thigh near her hip. She staggered backwards and tripped, her leg refusing to move as her brain commanded. Agony and confusion flooded her system as she hit the ground, the arrow sticking out of her back flexing within her, and her vision went dim and blurry. She heard Anna and Kristoff screaming her name as though from behind thick glass, but her mind wasn’t able to process that due to one overwhelming question- why would Heins have her shot?

She felt, rather than saw or heard, Anna and Kristoff sprinting past her, blades in hand. Another arrow flittered overhead, from the opposite direction this time- Ciri must have fired back. Fire erupted in the camp, then the sounds of clashing steel and ripping flesh. Why was her family attacking Heins? “Your Majesty!” Ciri slammed to her knees in the dirt next to Elsa. “Your Majesty, can you hear me?” Elsa tried to respond, but the words wouldn’t come. “Your Majesty, stay with me!” She was trying. But her eyelids felt so heavy. Maybe she’d just close her eyes for a bit, maybe take a nap- SMACK!

Elsa’s eyes flew open to see Ciri, palm raised for another slap, but when she saw Elsa’s eyes open, she bent down low. “Stay with me! Keep your eyes open!” she ordered, inches from Elsa’s face. There were more screams and sounds of battle now.

“W-what…” Elsa choked out.

“It’s not King Heins,” Ciri said, and Elsa saw she wasn’t bending down to issue an order to Elsa, but that she was shielding Elsa’s body with her own. “It’s his brother.”

“W-W-Which,” Elsa managed to gasp, but Ciri shook her head. 

“Stop trying to talk, save your strength. It’s not Hans. It’s one of the others.” More shouts, the voice of Kristoff screaming for Gareth mingling with unfamiliar ones, the unmistakable sound of steel on steel, and the piercing cry of the eagle, diving into the fray. 

“My eyes!” someone screamed after one such dive. An arrow flitted by, so close to Ciri that the feathers brushed her hair. She let out a squeal of fear, but did not stop shielding Elsa. Anna let out a bloodcurdling scream, and Elsa heard Kristoff roar her name. Elsa felt cold creeping over her body. Her fingers and toes were numb. Through the haze of pain, Elsa thought she heard more hoofbeats approaching.

“Fall back!” shouted another voice. This didn’t make any sense. Why would they fall back when reinforcements arrived?

“Spread out!” barked a familiar voice. “Protect Anna and Kristoff!” There was the sound of more combat, even more intense than before, as a new group joined the fight.

“Fall back!” the other, unfamiliar voice repeated, and Elsa heard the sounds of battle decrease as whoever was left to follow the order galloped away from the camp.

“Don’t let them get away!” another voice shouted, but then it was cut off by the familiar voice from before.

“No! Form a perimeter.” Elsa heard people scrambling to obey. “Kristoff! Is Anna okay?”

“I think so,” he gasped. 

“You two, help her! Where’s Elsa?” There was no answer, but he must have indicated somehow, because Elsa heard someone crashing through the underbrush towards her. 

“Elsa!” That voice... Elsa saw him approach, spattered with blood, looking beside himself with fear. “Elsie!” Silly Heins, her name wasn’t Elsie. He dropped down beside her, not even looking at Ciri, taking Elsa’s hand in both of his. “Elsie, quick!” Elsa’s mind reeled deliriously. She’d have giggled if it didn’t hurt so much. How was she supposed to hurry?

Elsa smiled, as much as her weakening body would allow. “Heins…” Then her strength failed her, and Elsa sank into darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternate chapter title: Elsa Learns the Importance of Identifying People Before Greeting Them


	19. Reunions: Heins - Medical Attention

This couldn’t be happening. He had come so far. He had searched for so long. This couldn’t be happening. He could not have found Elsa just for her to die in front of him. He stared down at his wife’s lifeless body. His eyes were lying, it was the only possible explanation. There wasn’t a thin line of blood trickling down Elsa’s pale cheek from the corner of her mouth, a crimson river in a snowbank. Her chest still rose and fell. Her eyes weren’t closed and unmoving, but open and full of joy. The arrows weren’t penetrating her flesh, they were just macabre decorations. He barely registered the hurried arrival of Elsie, the unknown girl at Elsa’s side scrambling away to make room. It didn’t matter. Elsa was fine. Elsie didn’t need to worry.

“I’ve got a pulse!” Elsie announced, holding two fingers underneath Elsa’s jaw, smearing the line of blood that wasn’t really there. Heins leaned forward and wrenched Elsie’s arm away. He saw her look at him in surprise, then frown. She looked away, at someone else who didn’t matter. “He’s in shock. Get him out of here.” 

“Come on, Heins,” a gentle voice said. “Let’s go over there, yeah?” Heins shook his head. 

“Move him,” Elsie commanded, taking a pair of scissors out of her bag and beginning to cut away Elsa’s clothing. 

“Alright bud, wasn’t a suggestion. Let’s go.” Several pairs of arms wrapped around Heins, and he felt himself yanked to his feet. Heins struggled, but to no avail. They dragged him a short distance away, then paused. “You can stay here, just watch and shut up.” Heins tried to break free, but they had too tight a grip, and they pulled him back. “Knock it off, Heins. Let her work.” Someone stepped in front of Heins, staring into his eyes. “Elsa’s alive, but hurt. Let Elsie do what she’s good at. Stay here.” A fog lifted from Heins’s brain, or at least it felt that way. He nodded at Baldur.

“I’m… okay,” he said. “I’m good.” He felt the arms loosen bit by bit, but true to his word, he just watched. Elsie had gotten most of Elsa’s clothing out of the way and was bent low over Elsa, examining the wounds. Whatever she saw, she didn’t like it. She muttered something to the other girl, who nodded and scampered away. While she was gone, Elsie packed clean cloth around both arrow wounds, which soaked through with blood almost at once.

“Someone, come here, I need you to lift her,” Elsie snapped. Baldur started forward, but Heins was quicker. He was in control of himself now, and he would do anything he could to save her. He did not fail to notice Elsie’s suspicious look, but she didn’t say anything, just indicated where he should lift and how much. Heins lifted, and Elsie reached beneath Elsa, and Heins heard the sound of wood snapping. When she brought her hands out, Heins saw an arrowhead there, the sides of it raked back in vicious points. “Shit, it’s barbed.” Elsie spread more clean cloth under her, then said, “Okay, set her down.” Heins did. Elsie repacked the bandages around the wounds, then said, “I need two feathers.” Heins stared at her. “Find them. Now!” she ordered.

“Gareth!” Heins exclaimed. “I heard Kristoff say Gareth!”

“What?” 

Ignoring Elsie, Heins turned towards where the camp had been. “Gareth! I need you!” He held his breath, and a moment later, the eagle flitted towards him, flaring to alight on a log near him, but Heins didn’t give him the chance. “Sorry,” he said as he grabbed the bird and ripped out some of its wing feathers. Gareth screeched and jumped back, but Heins was already holding out the feathers to Elsie.

She stared at them for just a moment, her gaze flicking first to the bird, flapping its wings to get away, to Heins, to the feathers in his outstretched hand. “Whatever,” she muttered, snatching them. She took a knife from her bag and cut the tips off two of them, letting the others flutter to the ground, then turned them around and drove their shafts into Elsa’s leg on either side of the arrow.

“What are you-” Heins protested, but Elsie cut him off.

“Saving her life. Shut up.” Heins did. Elsie leaned close to Elsa’s leg and moved the feathers around inside the injury. Blood spurted from the site every few seconds. Heins had no idea what she was doing, but had no choice but to trust in Elsie. “Got it!” Whatever she had been doing, she had succeeded. “Take this. Press on the wound when I remove the arrow.” She handed him another handful of wadded bandages, then grasped the arrow in Elsa’s leg, holding both feathers against the shaft of the arrow as she did. “Ready?” Heins nodded, and Elsie pulled. Nothing happened.

“God dammit, it’s in the bone. You pull. Pull hard, Heins.”

“M-Me?”

“Yes you, now fucking do it!” Elsie shouted. She snatched the bandages from Heins and waited with them poised over the spot. “Pull the arrow and the feathers.  _ Do not let the feathers shift. _ ” Heins grabbed the arrow, making sure to secure the feathers too, though he still had no idea why, and pulled up. The arrow was stuck, and he pulled harder, and harder, until eventually, with a horrible cracking sound, the arrow broke loose and Heins fell, landing on his back. He held the arrow up and examined it. Elsie had slid the hollow shafts of the feathers over the barbs in the arrow, allowing them to slip out of Elsa’s flesh without catching. He’d never seen someone do that before. 

He threw the arrow away and sat up. Elsie was already pressing fresh bandages against the spot, and indicated for him to take over. Heins pressed down, at first softly, not wanting to hurt her, but then harder at Elsie’s admonishment. “What about the other?” he asked.

Elsie shook her head. “I need herbs for that. That girl went to get what I need.” That girl chose that moment to reappear, thin, bloody scratches covering her sweating face and arms, holding a fistful of twisted vines.

“Is this enough?”

Elsie glanced up. “Should be. Give them here.” The girl passed the armful to Elsie, who dove back into her bag and came up with a mortar and pestle, as well as a small glass vial full of a thick golden liquid. She poured the liquid in, tossed in the herbs, and began grinding them while Heins held the bandage on Elsa’s leg. If he looked very closely, he could see the faintest pulse in Elsa’s neck. Her chest, which he had thought still, rose and fell the smallest amount.  _ Come on, Elsa. Stay strong.  _

“Stay on that, Heins,” she ordered, one hand full of the now greenish paste, the other grasping the arrow. She pulled the arrow shaft upwards, and it slid out of Elsa with a horrible squelching noise, then she pressed the paste against Elsa’s side, pushing it as deep into the wound as she could. Elsa’s brow furrowed, and Heins’s heart ached for her. The pain must be unimaginable to get through to her in this state. Elsie smeared more paste on the site, and Elsa’s face relaxed into a more peaceful expression. Elsie felt Elsa’s pulse again, then sighed.

“Alright, we’ve got to get her bandaged. Help me.” Over the next few minutes, Elsie, Heins, and the other girl got Elsa bandaged with clean white cloth. As they were finishing binding her leg, there was another crashing rush through the underbrush.

“Elsa!” It was Anna, limping towards them, and her face was pale. She had a bandage on her shoulder that looked a few days old, but another around her thigh, red with fresh blood. Kristoff was right behind her, one hand hovering near her shoulder in case her leg gave out, but from the looks of it, the wound wasn’t too serious. “Is she okay?” she demanded, looking around at all of them.

“Yes, Your Highness, she will be,” Elsie said, wiping her forehead, leaving a thin smear of blood there. “I’ve got her wounds cleaned and she’s stable. She’s not in immediate danger.”

Anna let out a sigh of relief, leaning against a tree to take weight off her leg. Then she blinked and looked around. “Um… so you’re all alive. That’s good.”

There was a burst of relieved laughter. Heins saw Alan rush to hug Kristoff, Cari run to Anna’s side, Baldur and Leila introducing themselves to the young woman, who introduced herself as “Ciri”, and Silas helping Elsie clear up her medical bag. There would be more to catch up on, but for now, it was clear everyone was too focused on Elsa to revel in their reunion as some of them clearly wanted to. Through it all, Heins sat at Elsa’s side, clutching her hand and stroking the back of it with his thumb. Once Elsie’s bag was put away, she had Heins, Kristoff, Baldur, and Alan carry her on a blanket over to the camp.

“We need to move,” Kristoff announced to the group.

“We can’t move Elsa,” Elsie warned. “She’s lost too much blood, if we move her by horseback, her wounds could reopen and she could bleed to death.”

“We can’t stay here,” countered Kristoff. “They know where we are. If we stay here they’ll be back, hundreds of them.”

“Then we kill them,” Anna said fiercely.

“Calm down, feisty pants,” Kristoff said. This wasn’t the most endearing thing Heins had ever heard, but it didn’t explain the intensity of the anger of Anna’s look at Kristoff. “There’s no way we can beat an army on our own, and you can bet that’s what’ll be coming. But we don’t have to move her by horseback.” Kristoff put his fingers in his mouth and whistled, and the eagle soared down and landed on a log nearby. In just a moment, Gareth sat there, to general noises of surprise and greeting. He responded with a smile and a nod (and a disapproving look at Heins, who smiled apologetically). Elsie was staring at him, open mouthed. 

“Oh yeah, Elsie,” Heins said. “This is Gareth. He’s a magician.”

“No kidding…” she breathed, eyes still wide. “Thanks for the feathers.”

“It was no trouble, my lady.” Elsie blushed at this form of address and looked down, smiling. Gareth looked back at Kristoff.

“Bear,” Kristoff said. “We need to strap Elsa to your back.” Gareth nodded and closed his eyes. Thick brown fur grew all over his body. His ears moved up to the top of his head and shifted into triangle shapes. Massive claws erupted from his hands, which grew into paws as big around as dinner plates. In a few short moments, a huge brown bear stood on all fours before them.

“Will that work? Can Elsa lay flat enough on his back?” Elsie approached the bear cautiously, apprehensive of its fearsome size, then spread her hands out on its back, judging the height, glancing between Gareth and Elsa.

“Should work,” Elsie said. She looked into the bear’s eyes. “Walk gently, okay?” The bear nodded and padded over to Elsa. It took a small amount of trial and error, using Cari as a practice dummy, but eventually, they found a way to strap Elsa to Gareth by first securing her to a series of branches lashed together to form a sort of backboard, then securing the whole thing to Gareth’s back. He took a few steps, the bear watching Elsie intently for her reaction. When she nodded her approval, they all set off, not having a destination in mind, but knowing they had to put some miles between them and this camp before the Empire found them again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was actually one of my favorite chapters to write, mainly due to the research I had to do beforehand. For example, in my original idea/outline, the arrows were not barbed, they were just arrowheads. In researching how to treat an arrow wound with the sort of medieval technology our heroes have access to, I learned about the feather trick for barbed arrows, and thought it was so interesting and intelligent that I just had to include it. Everything in this chapter is as authentic as I could make it from a layperson's perspective, including honey being used as a disinfectant, types of herbs being used to keep stomach acid or other gut fluid from causing infection, and of course the arrow thing.
> 
> One thing I did not expect was the sheer lethality of abdomen wounds in medieval combat. Of course, a shot straight through the stomach or liver, you're pretty much toast, but getting hit anywhere in the digestive system is straight up a death sentence. You are actually better off taking an arrow to the neck or lung than you are taking one to the gut in medieval times, as both of those had a much higher survival rate, which I found shocking. As it turns out, the stuff in your digestive system is REALLY supposed to stay IN your digestive system, and if even a little bit gets out into your abdominal cavity, you dead. This sounds obvious now, but I was still surprised at just how lethal it was and how little chance you had even with immediate medical attention.
> 
> See you Saturday!


	20. Reunions: Anna - Confession

Anna rode on what had been Cari’s horse through the plains on the outskirts of Arendelle’s kingdom, while Cari herself walked alongside. Her leg throbbed with fresh pain on every step, but she knew it would do no good to whine, so she gritted her teeth and bore it without complaint. The wound hadn’t been deep, just painful, and she’d have a limp for a while, but it could have been much worse. Worse than the pain was the impotent anger she felt at Kristoff and Heins having to save her. When would other people stop having to save her? She hadn’t seen Elsa, Kristoff, or Heins in two years, and within a day of reuniting with them all, they had all been forced to save her. Even Ciri, a complete stranger, had to save her. And this was  _ after _ she had magic of her own. 

“Stop sulking,” Cari said, for what had to be the tenth time, as she nudged Anna’s uninjured leg. “You’re alive. We’re all alive.”

“I know,” Anna groaned, for what also felt like the tenth time. She glanced around. The group was spread out in clumps around a hundred feet apart, with no more than two or three per clump. Elsa on Gareth was in the center, with Heins riding alongside. They had already stopped four times in the past six hours to check on Elsa’s dressings and ensure she hadn’t shifted too much, but on she slept. Elsie said that it was a miracle she was still alive given how much blood she had lost, and that it would take a while before her body had replenished enough for normal function. Kristoff and Alan led the group, and Baldur and Leila brought up the rear, walking hand in hand, both having given their mounts to others- Baldur to Kristoff, and Leila to Ciri. Silas rode with Ciri and Elsie, but maybe that was saying too much. It was more like he rode somewhat near them. The two young women had hit it off instantly, and even from here, Anna could hear their excited chatter and clear, ringing laughter. If the group were to be ambushed, being spread out this much would help ensure they were not all caught in the trap, and those outside could flank the would-be flankers on the enemy’s side. 

This also meant that she could talk to Cari without being overheard, which she had been doing for the past few hours, catching her up on everything that had happened over the past two years, and being filled in on Heins and the Queensguard’s campaign to overthrow Hans. Once that was all out of the way, they turned to more personal matters.

“I just don’t know what to do,” Anna said. She was winding and unwinding the blue ribbon around her fingers, wind, unwind, wind, unwind...

“So I’ve gathered,” Cari replied dryly. “And once again, I ask you- why are you talking to  _ me _ about this, instead of him?”

“How am I supposed to?” What Anna didn’t say was that she was scared of what would happen if she did talk to him.

Cari put her head back in exasperation. They’d been having this same conversation for twenty minutes. “Do you still love him?”

Anna looked down. “I do.” 

“Well then?”

“But it’s not that simple!” Anna said, frustrated. 

“ _ So you keep saying _ . To the wrong person. Nothing will be solved talking to me. Go talk to him.”

A feeling of recklessness overcame Anna then. She nudged her horse with her heels, and it shifted from a walk into a trot. She ignored both Cari’s half-startled, half-relieved cry ( _ “Finally!” _ ) and the renewed throbbing pain in her leg as she made her way up the company, past the happily chatting girls and the miserable looking Silas, past Elsa and the exhausted looking Heins, up to where Alan and Kristoff rode side by side. Anna steered her horse alongside Alan. Anna looked at Kristoff, who was making a point of avoiding her eyes. Alan glanced over at Anna, and she jerked her head back. She liked Alan fine, but didn’t want him around for this. To Anna’s relief, he acquiesced without comment, falling back to go join Cari near the rear of their loose formation. 

Anna and Kristoff rode side by side in uncomfortable silence for a while. After what felt like an eternity, Kristoff looked at her, meeting her eyes for the first time since she had ridden up to him. “Just get it over with, Anna. I know why you came up here.” His voice was hollow and filled with bitterness.

Anxiety flooded Anna’s stomach, tightening her chest and making her breathing become shallow. She fought to keep her hands steady. “What do you mean?” she asked, chewing on her lip and trying to keep her mind calm. “Why did I come up here?” 

“To tell me how you feel about me. About how much you hate me. I could see it in your eyes the moment you saw me.” 

“What?” The anxiety that had risen in her boiled over. A vise clamped around her heart. 

“What do you mean, what?” Anna saw nothing but sadness in his eyes. “It’s okay, Anna. I lied to you. It’s okay. I understand. Not a day goes by that I don’t regret it, that I don’t wish I could undo it all. But it’s too late for that. I’m just… glad you’re alive.”  _ He thinks I don’t want him!  _ Anna thought.  _ That’s my fault. I need to fix this. I need to tell him… before it’s too late, and I really do lose him. _

“Kristoff, I…” Anna said, but faltered. So many things were fighting to come to her lips at once, they seemed to jam up somewhere in her throat. She closed her eyes and breathed deep, in, and out, forcing the rising feeling of losing control back down. “That’s not it,” she managed to force out. He just looked at her. “I mean… I’m sorry, Kristoff.” The sadness in Kristoff’s eyes parted for a moment to allow surprise to shine through, then the curtains fell again. When no response was forthcoming, Anna continued. “I don’t hate you, Kristoff. I don’t think I ever could. The past two years… I…” Anna swallowed. She had bottled herself up for so long, she had forgotten how to open up, and she was afraid that if she did, she might just break. “I told Elsa this earlier... These past two years, I’ve just been so…. Angry. I didn’t know what I would do if I saw either of you, or Heins for that matter. And then I saw Elsa, and the anger just… it was like throwing oil on a dying fire. Intense, but fleeting. As soon as the oil’s burnt, the fire just… goes out.”

She met his eyes, pleading with him to understand. “That’s me, now. I’m just… empty. It seems like if I’m not angry, I’m just… nothing. I’m... broken, Kristoff. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I don’t care about anything anymore. I just…” Her voice trailed off.

“But you’ve been smiling and laughing for hours with Cari, I saw you, how can you say-”

He didn’t get it. Anna cut him off. “It’s an act, Kristoff. I’ve gotten good at faking it. At lying. At blending in, at not drawing attention to myself.” She paused and closed her eyes, slowing her breathing back down, trying to find the right way to elucidate her thoughts. “When I was at the Fire Temple, I accidentally injured a rabbit. I thought it might have been someone, so I threw a rock, and… Just a tiny little rabbit, he wasn’t doing anything to anyone, and I stomped on his head and killed him and I didn’t care.” 

Anna leaned towards him, imploring him to understand how damaged she was. “Don’t you see? You think I hate you because that’s all I know how to show anymore! I can’t even remember what it was like to be happy!” She was crying now, and she knew the others would see it, but she couldn’t stop it. The floodgates were open, and the full force of the emotions Anna had kept bottled up for two years came pouring out of her. She gasped for breath between sobs that choked her. She cried for so long and so hard that she started to slip from her saddle. She felt Kristoff’s hand on her shoulder, steadying her, and she cried harder. She felt her horse come to a stop. The next thing she knew, Kristoff had gathered her off the horse, and sank with her to the ground, wrapping her in his arms while she cried into his shoulder. He sat with her, stroking her hair and holding her while all the pain and fear and self-loathing streamed out of her shattered mind. She cried for a long time. 


	21. Reunions: Kristoff - Joyful Reunion

Anna’s breakdown caused an early end to the day’s travel. With the extra time, Kristoff told Gareth to do him a favor in hurried whispers, then took Anna to a secluded spot in the woods, far enough for her to have some privacy, but not far enough to be dangerous. There, he held her close as she cried. She cried for close to an hour as the day waned, while he stroked her hair and comforted her the best he could. Eventually, she sat up, breaking out of his embrace, and looked at him through raw, bloodshot eyes.

“Hey,” Kristoff said gently. An expression that was half smile, half sob crossed Anna’s face.

“Hey.” Her voice was scratchy and almost inaudible.

“Are you okay now?” She snorted. “I meant-”

“I know what you meant,” Anna sighed, wiping her eyes. Her nose was red, tear tracks stained her cheeks, her face was flushed, and her eyes were bloodshot, but despite all that, Kristoff thought- but couldn’t be sure- that he saw a tiny glimmer of the light behind her eyes that used to be ever-present. She drew up her knees to her chest and buried her face in her arms. “I don’t know.”

“Hey,” he said, leaning forward and putting his hands over hers. “I’m here, Anna. I wasn’t there for you when you needed me most… but I’m here now, if you want me.”

She raised her head. “You weren’t there… because I left you behind.”

“You left me behind because I lied to you,” Kristoff countered. “I never should have. I regret it every day.”

Anna was silent, then she whispered, “But I never should have left you.”

“You had just lost your kingdom, Anna. We all had. I don’t think one of us  _ doesn’t _ regret that night. So much would be different if we had stuck together, as we should have. But we didn’t.”

“Yes, because of me,” Anna insisted.

“Anna, stop,” Kristoff said, determined to put a stop to this self-defeating spiral. “Even if that were true,  _ which it isn’t _ , it doesn’t matter. The past two years have been the worst of my life, by a huge margin. I’m willing to bet it’s the same for you?” She nodded at him, her watery eyes seeming twice as large as normal. “I can tell you with certainty that the same goes for Elsa, and Heins. But none of that matters. Through some magic I don’t understand, we’re all together again. I love you, more than life itself. I love Elsa. I love Heins. You’re all my family.  _ That’s all that matters _ . We can sit here pointing fingers until the world ends, and nothing ever changes. Or we can find these spirits, kill that son of a bitch, and end this fucking nightmare once and for all.”

Anna stared at him, unmoving. She sat there, just looking at him, for so long that Kristoff wondered if she’d somehow fallen asleep with her eyes open. Then, without warning or preamble, she launched herself at him. He fell backwards onto the ground, then she was on top of him, their lips meeting for the first time in two years. He ran his hands through her hair, enjoying not only the familiarity of it but the exciting newness of her shoulder-length locks, as her hands wrapped around the back of his neck and around his chest.

“I love you,” she whispered when they broke apart, their foreheads touching. “And I’ve missed you so much.” A mischievous grin spread across her face, and her hand crept lower.


	22. Reunions: Heins - Reconciliation

Everyone besides Heins had already gone to bed by the time Anna and Kristoff returned to the camp, hands clasped together, looking flushed and with more than a little spring in their step. Heins had to look away to hide his grin at their obvious embarrassment, but as Anna went to lead the way into her tent (thoughtfully set up by Ciri several hours previous), Kristoff stopped. She looked back at him, questioning. He whispered something into her ear and she nodded, going into the tent on her own with a parting kiss on the cheek. Heins watched this all with a vague interest. Maybe he wanted to sleep in his own tent still, despite it looking like they had made up- at least for the most part. If that was the case, Baldur owed Heins a few coins.

The interest turned to a leaden feeling of dread as Kristoff bypassed his own tent (cynically set up by Leila several hours previous) and approached where Heins was keeping vigil over Elsa. They had not spoken more than a sentence to each other since first reuniting, and the meeting before that ended with Heins knocking Kristoff out and hiding him in a pile of leaves. He paused, looking down at Elsa with a tender expression.

“How is she?” he asked, kneeling down and putting the back of his hand on her forehead, then cheek. “She doesn’t feel like she has a fever, at least.” 

“She’s okay, I think,” Heins said, eyeing Kristoff warily. He was more aware than ever how much larger than him Kristoff was. “She hasn’t woken up yet, but she hasn’t seemed to be in much pain. She lost a lot of blood.”

“Thank the gods you got there when you did,” Kristoff said. He took one of Elsa’s hands for a moment, giving it a gentle squeeze, then straightened up, his eyes still on Elsa. “She’d be dead right now if not for Elsie. I can set a bone, bandage a cut, but… this? She’d have had no chance.” Heins nodded, still uneasy. Kristoff’s gaze locked onto Heins’s. “That was a cheap shot, you know that?”

“W-what?”

“Hitting me with that damn rock,” Kristoff said, his eyes boring into Heins’s. “That really hurt, you know.”

“Uh- I-” Heins stammered. Kristoff’s tone was flat, and his glare was unreadable. “I mean, you started it.” It sounded immature even before he said it, but he was withering under that stare from the mountain man before him.

“And I still have a scar where you ended it.”

“Yeah, well…” Heins faltered. There was no point in getting defensive. “I am sorry, for what it’s worth.”

“Yeah, me too,” Kristoff sighed, and the intimidating presence he had been exuding faded away almost at once. Then he grinned. “It’s really good to see you, Heins.”

Heins let out a long sigh of relief. “It’s good to see you too, Kristoff.”

“You have questions.” This wasn’t a question, and it was accurate.

“Tons.”

“Well,” Kristoff said, sitting down opposite Heins with another weary sigh, so that they could talk without neglecting their watch over Elsa. “It’s a long story. Most of it's not mine, but I can give you the basics.” Heins nodded and settled in to listen, interrupting only rarely to ask a clarifying question. Kristoff spoke of magic spirits and ancient civilizations, of desperate flights from the Empire and of epic confrontations, of two sisters reuniting and a chance encounter with an orphan girl, and that young girl in the grey dress that had brought them all back together. 

“So let me see if I’ve got this right,” Heins said at long last. He thought for a moment, then began, “We need to overthrow my brother and restore the kingdoms. But in order to do that, we need to find the Temples to the Air and Earth spirits so that we can get their power and ‘unite the four’. But in order to do that, we need to translate this book that Anna found. But in order to do  _ that _ , we need to find someone in the Empire who can translate Ancient. All while a mysterious ten year old, who can play with space and time at will, might I add, manipulates us for unknown ends?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“Sounds perfectly straightforward.”

Kristoff laughed. “Tell me about it.” He straightened up and stretched. “I’m going to bed.” He started away, but then paused and turned back. “When I first saw Anna, she set me on fire in anger. When Elsa wakes up…” He trailed off ominously. “Well, good night!” With a wave and a cheery smile, he went into Anna’s tent.

“Asshole,” Heins muttered. Elsa wouldn’t do anything to him, he was sure. Right? But then again…

He sat down again next to Elsa three minutes later, with two more layers and three blankets next to him. Just in case.


	23. Reunions: Elsa - Forgiveness

Elsa returned to consciousness a few times before fully waking. The first time, she felt herself atop something that was swaying as it walked, and her first half-formed thought was that it was a horse, but it was too big. Before she could form another coherent idea, she had slipped back into the dark. 

The second time, she was no longer moving, but she could feel pressure on her legs and chest, pressing her against what felt like a stiff board. She managed to open her eyes to see a bright blue sky, and a vaguely face-shaped thing nearby. She saw the face-thing move towards her, but before it had moved a couple inches she had already closed her eyes again. Her eyelids felt so very heavy, and the sky was so bright. 

The third time she woke, it had become dark. A vast starscape stretched out before her, the tops of trees swaying in the nighttime breeze at the edge of her vision. She was lying on something softer than before, the pressure on her was gone, and her brain seemed less foggy. With this clarity came pain. Waves of dull agony radiated from her right leg and her left side. She closed her eyes, mouth clamped shut, breathing hard through her nose to control the pain. The pain had just started to subside when she took one breath that was just a little deeper than the others, and a white hot stab of pain shot up her side. She gasped, her body involuntarily bending towards the site, succeeding only in moving her leg enough to cause a flare of agony there too. She forced herself to lay still, controlling her breathing. When the pain had subsided back down to the dull throbbing, she opened her eyes. She looked to the left, and didn’t see anything but a grassy field and a couple sparse trees. She looked right, and her breath caught in her chest. 

Heins sat upright against a tree, illuminated by the soft glow of the moon, a few feet away from where Elsa was lying. He was asleep, his head drooping onto his chest. It looked like he’d been there all night. Waiting for her. Elsa stared at him, taking in every detail she had missed for the past two years. Never before had she so acutely regretted her actions the night of the Fall. His hair was longer than she had seen it before, in a stark contrast to her and Anna. He hadn’t grown the full beard that Kristoff had, but it was clear he hadn’t shaved in a week or so. Like the rest of them, he was thinner by a decent margin. He had a new scar, a thin line starting above his right eyebrow and finishing on his cheek, though it looked like his eye had been spared. Elsa reached out to wake him, then stopped, her hand hovering over his shin.

What on earth was she supposed to say? “Hey honey, sorry I abandoned you and made you think I was dead for two years, want a hug?” Or maybe, “Yeah, I left because I was going to kill myself, so that’s that, nice to see you.” Or how about that old classic, “I left you because I’m terrified of losing you, and if you think that doesn’t make sense, congratulations, you’re right!” 

Besides, how would he react? Sure, he was by her side now, but how did she know it wasn’t just his turn to make sure she didn’t bleed out in the night? He had been so loyal, so committed to her, and she turned her back on him with nothing but a couple of words scribbled on a scrap of paper. She must have hurt him so much. For the thousandth time, she put herself in his shoes and imagined coming back to that tree, just to find no Heins and nothing but a note telling her not to look for him, the hurt and betrayal and heartbreak that would have followed, and as it always did, shame swelled up and threatened to overwhelm her. She pulled her hand back and laid her head back down, fighting to keep the tears from spilling. No, she had to think of something before he woke up-

“Elsa!”

She gasped, barely managing to contain herself from jumping and sending more pain coursing through her body, but even still, her leg was throbbing. Heins was sitting up straight now, staring at her with an expression that Elsa could not read. Was he mad at her? Worried about her?

“Heins…” she whispered. “I’m… I’m so sorry…” she managed to say, her breaths coming in short gasps between suppressed sobs. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes, running back along her temples and nestling in her hair. “I never should have-”

Whatever she had been about to say died in her throat, as Heins leaned forward, took her face in his hands, and pressed his lips to hers. A wild thrill shot through Elsa’s body, electrifying her, and she returned the kiss with frantic enthusiasm, ignoring the pain from her side as she did. Everything that she had been worried about, all the long nights wondering if Heins was dead, if he could forgive her, if she would ever see him again… all of that melted away in that one kiss. Some tiny, rational part of her knew that it would not be just as it was, not right away, but she pushed that aside. Future Elsa could deal with that. Right now, Present Elsa relished in the love she thought lost for so long.

By the time they broke apart, both were flushed and panting. Heins took her hand in his and bowed his head, pressing his cheek against her palm. “Elsa… I’ve missed you so much.”

“Y-you’re not mad at me?” she asked in a small voice. It felt like she was being spared punishment after her father caught her stealing dessert from the kitchens with Anna, back before the accident. Her heart was cowering in the corner like a whipped dog whose master was approaching, daring to hope for the best, but expecting the whip at any moment.

He straightened up, but didn’t let go of her hand. “No. Are you mad at me?”

“No!” Elsa couldn’t believe her ears. “But… how? You _should_ be.”

“We all walked away that night...” Heins said. Elsa didn’t know what to say to that, so she just waited. Heins looked up, into the trees, looking thoughtful. He was silent for a moment, then he said, “Elsa, do you remember our vows?”

“Of course I do….” She winced as another line of pain ran up her leg, but Heins didn’t seem to see.

“I always liked the blessing of Air best. Do you know why?” She shook her head. “‘Each day is a new opportunity for growth’. I liked that.” He looked back down at Elsa, meeting her eyes. She had missed looking into those eyes. “I don’t know why you chose to leave me behind that night. I don’t know why you pushed me away while you were at your lowest, when all I wanted was to be by your side.” The shame she had felt so often was back, more powerful than ever before. “But then a few things happened, because of that. Things you don’t know yet.” 

He smiled down at her. “Because of that, I happened to bump into Elsie. Remember her? She helped you at the Battle of Corona, and again during the Fall.”

Elsa strained to remember, and a vision of a kind, sweet girl, with curly blonde hair and green eyes, swam to the front of her mind. “I think so.”

“She’s the one who saved you yesterday.” Elsa’s heart seemed to perk up in her chest, a glimmer of joy shimmering in the dark. Elsie was alive? Before she could think much more on that, Heins continued. “Through her, I found Baldur, and through him, Alan, Cari, Silas, Leila. They’re all alive now, because you chose to set me on a different path than yours.” The feeling of joy spread to one of elation, as well as a wave of relief as an enormous weight was lifted off her chest. Elsa had assumed them dead long ago, dead because of her. If they were still alive…

Heins reached out and stroked Elsa’s cheek with his thumb. “I don’t know why we all split up that night,” he whispered. “But we’re all here now. And because of what we did, our friends are still alive. I don’t see the point in being mad at you. It wouldn’t change what is, and I don’t know if I would if I could.” He took his hand away, and Elsa felt a momentary urge to grab it and put it back, then he continued. “Don’t get me wrong. I’ve missed you more than I thought possible.”

“I missed you too…” 

“There have been many times where I was so angry at you I couldn’t see straight.”

“I know. I’m sorry…” Elsa whispered. He nodded almost imperceptibly, an acknowledgement of her apology, but not an acceptance, not yet. That was okay. There was another throb of pain from her leg.

“But the past is in the past. And dammit all, I still love you more than anything.”

“I love you too.”

He looked away again, and fell silent for a little while as the sun crept over the horizon, bathing him in gold. Elsa wanted to say something but forced herself to wait for him. When he spoke again, his voice was quiet and low. “I want you to promise me something, Elsa.”

“Anything.” It didn’t matter what he asked at this point. She was willing to do anything to make up for what she had done to him, to them all.

Heins turned to meet her eyes, then brushed another tear from her cheek. “Don’t… _ever_ … do that again.”

Elsa let out a quiet, watery laugh that was half a sob. “I- I promise.”

“Good.” Heins leaned in and kissed her, then sat up, more businesslike. Elsa knew there would be more to talk about, but for now, she was content. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I got hit with an arrow,” Elsa deadpanned. “Twice.”

Heins raised his gaze into the distance, his face blank, and sighed. It was a very long sigh.

“My leg really hurts,” Elsa said, her tone serious now. 

“Let me take a look at your side first, Elsie said that was a more serious wound.” Elsa moved her arms out of the way as Heins pulled down the thin sheet she had been sleeping under. Elsa held her breath and looked away as Heins started to undo the bandages around her midsection. When she felt the last of the bandages being pulled away, she looked down, preparing for the worst.

To her surprise, the wound on her side looked neat. Disturbing, the way the hole was just… _there_ , where it shouldn’t be, but neat. There was a mixture of what smelled like honey and some mottled green goo smeared over it, but the injury itself was not swollen or oozing, which she knew was a good sign. Heins nodded with an approving murmur. “Elsie’s good at what she does,” he said. “You knew that already, but believe me-” he indicated the scar on his face- “she is _very_ good at what she does. But…” He gave her a sympathetic smile. “This part’s going to hurt. I need to see the other side.”

“It went all the way through?” Heins nodded, and as he did, Elsa had a hazy image swim to the front of her mind, the image of a barbed arrow point, dripping blood, sticking out of her back. “Okay… Tell me when.”

Heins took her left hand with his right, and put his left hand on her shoulder. “Three… two… one… now!” He pulled her left shoulder up, rolling her onto her side. Her side screamed in protest, but Elsa fought back the scream by squeezing Heins’s hand as tight as she could. It had to have hurt him, but he did not react. She lay there on her side for a few moments while Heins inspected her back, then he lowered her back down. She lay there, breathing hard, trying not to cry, still gripping Heins’s hand.

“Are you okay, honey?” _Honey_ . The use of her old endearment made her head feel like it was spinning. _Is this real? Can this be real?_

“I’m fine,” she said, and she could see he suspected she was lying. But she really was fine, as fine as she could be right now.

“Alright. Let me check your leg out and then we can get everyone up.”

Elsa’s eyes widened. “Wait, Heins.”

“Huh?” He paused with his fingers just about to undo the knot on her leg bandage.

“Are the others… I mean, are the others mad at me?”

He chuckled as he began to unwrap Elsa’s leg. She bit back a gasp of pain as some of the dried blood stuck to the bandage and pulled at her skin. “You haven’t changed much, Elsa.”

“What do you - ah!- mean?”

“Sorry,” Heins said, unwrapping the last of the bandage and peering at the wound. Like the other, this one was smeared in honey, but unlike the other, this one was swollen and red, and there was no green salve. He gingerly touched the swollen area, causing Elsa to gasp in pain despite the lightness of his touch. “It’s warm. Might be getting infected,” Heins said with a worried expression. “I’m going to check with Elsie.” Leaving both wounds uncovered for now, he stood up and headed towards a nearby collection of tents Elsa hadn’t noticed yet.

“Wait, Heins,” she said before he could get too far away. “What did you mean?”

He answered without stopping, saying over his shoulder, “You and Anna both have always been your own worst enemies.”

 _What was that supposed to mean?_ Elsa thought, a little offended. It’s not like she was too hard on herself, most of the bad things that had ever happened to either one of them or the kingdom at large was genuinely because of her, it’s why she had secluded herself for so… long.... _Oh._

But that was just Elsa, Anna wasn’t like that at all. Anna was always so nice to everyone. You could be forgiven for thinking she was terrified they were going… to push her away. Oh. _But that’s my fault too… oh_. Though Elsa internally conceded the point, she knew that while Heins was right that being too hard on themselves was a flaw shared by both her and her sister, the main reason for Anna’s self-doubt really was Elsa. Though Elsa had only been doing what she had been told, what she and her parents both thought was right, to protect Anna, there was no doubt in her mind now, years later, that it had been the wrong decision, and that Anna would not have many of the struggles she had now if not for that mistake.

Heins returned then, saving Elsa from more self-rumination. Behind him came the curly haired blonde girl that Elsa recognized as Elsie. She hadn’t changed much in the past two years, physically, at least, but Elsa could see a hardness to her eyes that she was sure hadn’t been there before. Another sinking feeling of sorrow and regret bubbled up in Elsa’s heart at seeing yet another person changed by the circumstances she’d caused.

“Your Majesty,” Elsie said in a formal, stiff tone as she curtseyed.

“Elsie, I think we’re well past that,” Elsa said, smiling at the young woman, relieved when her eyes softened by a shade. Perhaps she hadn’t completely ruined Elsie’s life after all. “Heins told me you saved my life. Thank you.”

“Of course, Your Majesty. May I?” she asked, gesturing to Elsa’s injuries. Elsa nodded, and Elsie bent down to examine her, her tongue stuck between her teeth, her fingers brushing over the surface of Elsa’s skin near the wounds.

“What’s the green stuff?” Elsa asked, indicating the thick goo on her side.

“It’s an herbal salve,” Elsie answered without looking up. “It’s preventing infection.”

“Oh. Then…” Elsa faltered, not wanting to insult Elsie.

“Go on, Your Majesty. I’m happy to answer questions.”

“Why isn’t it on my leg?”

Elsie didn’t answer right away. She poked at Elsa’s leg a little harder, and seemed to note the sharp intake of breath with a frown. “The herbs are to prevent infection from fluids in your gut. It won’t work on other things.” She straightened up.

“I have good news and bad news. The good news is that none of your major organs were punctured. If the arrow had been a little more to the right, it would have hit your stomach and there would have been nothing I could do. You got very lucky, Your Majesty.”

“I don’t feel very lucky,” Elsa said, “but I trust that you’re right.” She paused, dread building in her gut at Elsie’s trepidation. “And the bad news?”

Elsie hesitated, glancing back and forth between Elsa and Heins. “The arrows were poisoned. The arrow that struck your side went clean through before it could get into your blood. I just snapped off the arrowhead and pulled it out. The one in your leg, though… that one impacted your femur. We got it out before the poison could be fully absorbed, but… I think there’s a piece of the arrowhead lodged in your bone. If we don’t get it out, the poison could kill you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Elsa's not quite out of the woods yet, guys. None of them are. They made some huge strides in these chapters, but the rifts that exist between our gang are not so easily healed.


	24. Reunions: Anna - Surgery

Anna lay on the floor next to her makeshift bed, staring up at the dim tent ceiling, her cheeks flushed and breathing hard. She had gone to bed alone, as she normally did. She had slept pretty well, all things considered, as she normally did. She had woken early, as she normally did. What was very definitely  _ not _ normal was waking up to someone else in her bed, their face inches from hers. The years on the run, trusting no one, had entrenched in her a paranoia so deep that it was hard to talk to anyone anymore without a hand on a weapon and at least two exit routes. So when she woke up to see someone else not only in her tent, but  _ in her bed _ , the jolt of fear and panic that shot through her was indescribable. She cried out and jerked back, tumbling off the low mattress and landing on the floor, grabbing for her weapon.

Her hand closed around the hilt of her dagger she kept near her bed, then her sleepy brain finally caught up. It was not a really incompetent assassin, it was Kristoff, and not only had he managed to sleep through her panicked reaction, he hadn’t even seemed to move, snoring on without a care. How on earth had he survived this long if he was this dead to the world?

Anna’s heart rate had just begun to slow down when it skyrocketed once more, as Cari burst through the flap in her tent, her sword bared, her eyes darting around for whatever had made Anna cry out. She froze and her eyes widened as she took in the sight- a man sprawled out on Anna’s bed, snoring, and Anna on the floor, wearing just a very thin white nightshirt, much more exposed than was decent, grabbing at the sheets to cover herself up, only succeeding in revealing more of Kristoff’s bare torso. She felt her cheeks burn as Cari’s eyes went back and forth between them several times, her mouth open in surprise. Then she winked, gave Anna a big thumbs up and a smile, and ducked back out of the tent.

This was how Anna now found herself, out of breath and blushing crimson, laying on her back, trying in vain to slow her heart before it pumped right out of her chest. But as she lay there, she tried to sort out her thoughts. She had gotten back the only man she ever truly loved, and she had been able to express so much that had plagued her, rather than keeping it bottled up. So why didn’t she feel better?

She was happy, in a sense. She felt a little better than she had in a while, a little more optimistic. But whenever she tried to embrace that feeling, it seemed to evade her, never letting her catch hold of it or nurture it. It was like yesterday had lit a match in her heart, but without any kindling, it had flickered out. But why? 

She had always thought that her emptiness would be filled by returning to those she loved. But she had them back, against all odds. What she had thought more unlikely still was that, despite all they had done to one another and the vast distance that had grown between them, they could still love each other. But they did. So why did she still feel so hollow? And why did she feel further away from Kristoff than ever before? She was so immersed in this frustrating question that she didn’t notice right away that Kristoff had woken up, and was looking at her with his head propped up on his hand.

“Are you okay?”

Anna wanted to answer truthfully. To tell him “No, I’m not okay, I’m still empty, I think whatever’s wrong with me can’t be fixed, something in me is broken forever.” To beg him to run before whatever emptiness had consumed her destroyed him. But she didn’t. She just said, “Yeah, I’m fine. You just startled me is all.”

Kristoff gave an apologetic grin. “Sorry. You said to join you after I talked to Heins…”

“No, I know. It was just…”

“It’s alright, I get it.” He looked at her with sympathetic eyes. “You’ve been alone a long time.”

She wanted to tell him how alone she had truly felt. How much it hurt, but also how much she had gotten used to it. How afraid she was that she  _ wanted _ to go back to being alone. But she didn’t. She just said, “Yeah.” She got to her feet and pulled her clothes on, starting with her shirt and pants, then her traveling armor, nothing more than hardened leather bracers and a chestplate, then some comfortable boots. Through it, she could see Kristoff still looking at her, an odd look on his face, as though he were sizing her up.

“What is it?” she asked as she strapped on her weapon.

“You’ve changed,” he said.

She wanted to tell him of course she had. That she had changed in ways that scared her, that she hated about herself, that she was terrified would push him away. But she didn’t. She just said, “I suppose so.” Then she left the tent.

“Morning, Anna!” Cari said with a grin, but she faltered at Anna’s stormy expression. “You okay? I didn’t mean to-”

“No, it’s fine!” Anna said, plastering a smile on her face. Cari smiled back. Anna hated how good she was at lying now.

“Good. God, it’s so nice to be back all together, isn’t it?”

“So nice!” Anna said. And it was. It just wasn’t as nice as it ought to be. Anna saw Elsie approaching them from the direction of Heins and a now-awake Elsa, looking downcast. It looked like Elsa was drinking some sort of red liquid. “Elsie, what’s wrong?”

“The Queen. I think there’s a piece of the arrow still lodged in the bone of her leg.”

“Ouch,” Cari said sympathetically.

“Will it heal like that?” Anna asked.

“Ordinarily, yes. But the arrows were poisoned. I’m not even sure with what- I think it’s magical. It’s still leaching into her bloodstream. If it’s not removed, she will die.”

“What?” Anna gasped. “Let’s go then, you can do it, right?”

“It’s not that simple, Your Highness. In order to get the fragment out, I will need to make the wound bigger. Much bigger. There is a high chance she will bleed to death if we’re not careful.”

“Shit,” Cari muttered.

“What do you need?” Anna demanded.

Ten minutes later, everyone in the camp was gathered around Elsa. A bottle of wine, three-quarters empty, lay at her side, and Elsa’s cheeks were flushed. It would have been funny if not for the way she was shaking in fear, the way her lips were pulled back in terror. Heins knelt at Elsa’s head, stroking her hair and whispering reassurances to her. She had a pillow under her head, a leather wrapped stick in her mouth, and two more in her hands. A belt was wrapped around her right thigh, near her pelvis, ready to be tightened to act as a tourniquet.

Alan and Baldur knelt down near Elsa’s sides, one hand at her wrists, the other on her shoulder. Kristoff and Silas were next to them, doing the same on Elsa’s knee and ankle. Elsie was squeezed between Baldur and Silas on Elsa’s right side. Elsa’s leg lay bare before her. Cari, Leila, and Ciri were behind Elsie, Cari with various medical tools Elsie would need, Ciri with a stack of freshly boiled bandages, and Leila waiting for her part, which came later. Anna had asked for something to do, but Elsie told her she just needed to be nearby and that Elsie would tell her if she needed anything. Anna was left to hover around the periphery, pacing back and forth, chewing on her lip, her hands clasped around the blue ribbon in front of her chest.

“Are you ready, Your Majesty?” Elsie asked in a low voice. Despite the fear plain on her face, Elsa’s eyes were full of an angry determination as she nodded.

“Okay.” Elsie’s face was grim as she nodded to Kristoff, who tightened the belt as much as he could, Elsa wincing with every motion, before putting his hands back on her lower leg to hold her still. “Remember,  _ don’t let her move _ .” Elsie placed her scalpel about an inch above the wound, drove the blade into Elsa’s flesh hard and fast, then tore downward, splitting the pale skin and opening a gash about five inches long in her thigh. Blood welled up at once, spilling onto the ground. Elsa’s eyes went wide and she bucked, screaming around the stick in her mouth, but the hands on her limbs pressed down, holding her still. Alan, Baldur, Silas, and Kristoff all looked like they hated themselves right now, but none of them let up.

“Retractor,” Elsie ordered, holding her hand out. Cari slapped what looked like a pair of tongs, but that opened the wrong way, into Elsie’s hand. Elsie drove it into the new wound and squeezed the handle, splitting Elsa’s thigh muscles apart, then ran the scalpel along the wound a second time. Elsa threw her head back and arched her spine, screaming through the gag like a wounded animal. The two at her arms had to switch around, putting their knees on Elsa’s shoulders and their hands on her chest, trying to avoid the wound there, pushing her back down. Anna could see white bone through the opening, as well as a small black piece embedded in it. 

“I see it! Forceps.” Cari passed the instrument to Elsie’s free hand. “Leila, hold this.” Leila reached around and grabbed the handle of the retractor, keeping the muscle spread. Elsie grabbed hold of the black piece with the forceps and tugged, but couldn’t get enough leverage. She repositioned the forceps and used the tip as a lever against Elsa’s bone, wrenching the piece out. Elsa thrashed harder than ever, tears leaking from behind clenched eyelids. “Got it!” She threw the forceps and the piece to the side, then pushed Leila’s hand aside to take the retractor. She paused for just a moment, then shook her head.

“There’s too much bleeding. Your Highness, burn it.”

“Wh-what?” Anna stammered, freezing mid stride.

“Anna, burn it, now! It will stop the bleeding. Just for a second. We’re sealing the blood vessels.”

“I can’t do that!”

“ _ Do it _ , now! She’s going to die if you don’t!”

“Anna, just do it!” Heins screamed. Everyone was looking at her, waiting for her to set fire to her sister’s flesh, to burn her sister alive- she couldn’t do this!

“NOW!” Elsie barked, and Anna moved. She shoved Cari aside, who went with the movement without protest, and dropped to her knees beside Elsa.

“I’m so sorry, Elsa,” Anna gasped. Then she burned. She summoned the ball of flame she often played with, then ran her hand along the wound. Elsa screamed again, louder this time, and Anna could smell the sickening smell of burnt human flesh. Bile rose in her throat but she forced it back down. Elsie inspected the sides of the cut, then shook her head. 

“Not enough. Do it again.”

“I can’t-” Anna protested.

“DO IT!”

“I’m so sorry!” She ran her hand along the wound again, and Elsa’s leg was shaking and contorting with more force than ever. Kristoff and Silas both threw their entire weight on her legs to keep her from hurting herself further.

“That’s it!” Elsie cried. She let go of the retractor and Elsa’s leg began to close. Anna fell back as Elsie threw the tool aside, then said, “Sutures!” Cari passed a needle and thread to Elsie. “I’m almost done, Your Majesty!” Her fingers were nothing but a blur as she sewed up the wound with fast and practiced movements. Elsa continued to scream and thrash around, but they had finally gotten her movement under control. Her leg was quite still as Elsie finished the stitches, then wrapped the whole thing with bandages that Ciri handed her. 

“Done!” Elsie announced, “But keep holding her for a bit, until she relaxes.” Elsa’s screams had been replaced with a quiet whimper as the fight drained out of her. She was surely still in unimaginable pain, but now that her leg wasn’t literally being ripped apart, it had to have lessened. Anna couldn’t imagine how much worse it would have been without the wine. Elsie, Leila, Cari, and Ciri gathered up the supplies to take them back to Elsie’s tent, while Anna sat next to Elsa. She had thrown the leather stick in her hand away and clutched Anna’s now, so hard that Anna’s started to go numb, but she didn’t care. White hot fury was bubbling in the pit of her stomach.

Heins was leaning over Elsa, whispering endlessly to her, and she stared up at him with dazed and unfocused eyes. Silas was the first to let go of her, doing so very tentatively, with every muscle tensed to regrip Elsa, but she did not thrash about, or move at all for that matter.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty,” he said, surprising them all as he always did when he chose to speak. She gave no indication of hearing him, but he didn’t seem to mind. He just moved away back to the tents.

“Sorry, Elsa,” Baldur said, following Silas’s lead.

“Sorry, Elsa.”

“Sorry, Elsa.” Alan and Kristoff moved to help Baldur and Silas.

Her anger rising, Anna relinquished her grip, slipping her fingers out of Elsa’s, who did not try to prevent it. She stood up, breathing hard, and stormed over to Elsie’s tent, her anger rising with every step. She got there just as Elsie came back out, and she blinked in surprise when she saw Anna’s furious expression.

“Your Highness, what-”

“Why didn’t you tell me I’d have to do that?” Anna shouted. She saw everyone’s heads turn towards her, and Elsie shrank back from Anna’s anger. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think you’d have to-” Anna’s rage spiked. Elsie’s words were cut off by Anna’s palm connecting hard with her face. Her head rocked back and her own hand flew up to the spot where Anna had struck her. She stared at her, eyes wide and already brimming with tears. A red mark was already beginning to show on Elsie’s cheek. Anna drew back her hand to hit her again, but felt someone catch it from behind. Elsie scurried away, looking hurt, confused, and terrified.

“What are you doing, Anna?” It was Baldur. Anna’s vision seemed to go red.

“Let go of me!” she screamed, and a spout of fire erupted between them. Baldur leapt back to avoid the flames, looking shocked. She hadn’t even meant to do that. More people were running towards her now.

“Anna, what the hell are you doing?” Alan shouted, and something about the way he said it infuriated Anna still further. Without any effort or direction, a ball of flame coalesced in front of her and launched towards Alan. She felt a savage satisfaction at the fear that shone on his face as he dove out of the way.

“Anna, stop!” She realized she didn’t recognize that voice, or rather, couldn’t remember who it belonged to. It was unimportant. The anger was filling her. She had lost all control, all conscious thought. All there was was rage. Flames raced across the ground, circling her in an ever increasing spiral. The flames rose higher as her anger grew and grew.

“Take cover!” someone screamed, as flames exploded out of Anna in a burst of twisting fire and whipping wind. Tents were blown aside, and she saw people running for cover behind trees and rocks. The remnants of last night’s campfire were thrown into the air, and the pots and pans that made last night’s dinner clanged noisily as they were blasted away. Grass twisted and crumbled into dust, trees turned black with burnt bark. Then… there was quiet, and all was still. Quiet except for a single scream, piercing the air like a knife. Heins’s scream.

Anna looked toward Elsa. Heins had thrown his body over hers, to protect her, but in doing so, he sacrificed his own body to the flames. His clothing was partially burned away, and the skin beneath was red and shiny. Then, all at once, the realization of what she had just done crashed over Anna, and she fell to her knees. She had lost control so easily. She had given herself over to the rage just to feel  _ something _ , anything. She had to get away. She  _ finally _ understood why Elsa had secluded herself all those years. Why she had run away from her coronation. Why she was so afraid to get close to Heins. At any point, she could kill any of them with no effort. But Elsa had always been stronger than Anna. Anna would never be able to control this. 

Some people were running towards Elsa. Some people were running towards Anna. It didn’t matter who was doing what. She had to leave. She staggered to her feet, then turned and sprinted to one of the horses. Someone was calling her name, but she ignored them. She burned the strap tying it to the tree with a small wave of her hand, then galloped away as fast as she could urge the steed to go.


	25. Reunions: Kristoff - Chase

“Take cover!” Kristoff screamed, diving behind a tree, just before a wave of heat and flame went ripping through the air past him. Even with the tree to protect him, he still felt his eyes dry out and his exposed skin tingle with the heat of the passing inferno. He heard debris rain down around him as the camp was scattered into the air, and then all was still. He peered around the tree and tried to take a headcount, to make sure everyone was okay, when the air was rent by a piercing scream. He whipped his head around to see Heins, covering Elsa, with angry red burns all over his back, visible through his charred shirt. The flames had been brief, and Kristoff prayed that the burns weren’t too serious, but they would be painful. Looking around, he could see pale and scared faces poking out from behind rocks, logs, and stumps. Anna had fallen to her knees in the middle of the charred remnants of their camp.

“Look alive, people!” Kristoff shouted, leaping out from behind the tree and sprinting towards Anna as fast as he could. “Whoever’s functional, help anyone who’s not!” There was a flurry of motion as three or four of them ran towards Heins, two more following Kristoff, and he didn’t see any more than that.  _ Please don’t let her have killed anyone,  _ thought Kristoff. He  _ knew _ she had been off that morning, more than usual, more than even this particular brand of usual. Anna had gotten to her feet and ran towards the horses.

“Anna, no! Stop!” She leapt onto one of the horses and burned the strap holding it to the tree, then took off across the fields.  _ Not this time _ . He looked back at the two who had followed. It was Alan and Silas. “Go back! Help them! I’ll get Anna!” He heard shouted words of encouragement as he hacked through another of the straps and leapt onto the now free horse.

“Bring her back, Kristoff!”

“Don’t let her get away!”

“Go, Kristoff!”

He pulled his mount around and urged it forward, after Anna. She had already pulled ahead of him by a quarter mile or more as he bent low over the mane, riding harder and faster than he ever had, wishing he still had Sven. 

Anna didn’t look back, and it didn’t seem that she had yet realized she had been followed. Kristoff used this to his advantage, closing the gap to fifty feet or so before she looked around. Her face was stained with tears. “Anna! Stop! Please!” Kristoff cried, urging the horse faster, but she just turned around and dug her heels into her own, and began pulling away again. She was lighter, and a better rider, and Kristoff knew if he didn’t do something, and fast, his horse would tire quicker than hers, and he would lose her. He stood up in the saddle, craning his neck to see as far as he could. There was a stream ahead, no more than a shallow ditch cutting across the plains, and Anna hadn’t seen it yet! It ran at a diagonal to where they were running now, so if Kristoff angled to the right, he might be able to cut her off. He changed course and galloped as hard as he dared. The horse was beginning to slow, it was not used to being driven this hard. “Come on,” he urged it, running a hand over its flank. “Come on!”

Anna reached the river, and as Kristoff had hoped, angled along it and continued her flight.  _ Don’t look over here, don’t look over here… _ They were only a hundred feet apart, and she still hadn’t noticed his redirection. But how to make her stop? Kristoff had an idea, but it was a very, very bad one.  _ Please let this work _ . Kristoff took his feet from the stirrups and stood in the saddle, absorbing the horse’s movements with his legs as its hooves pounded the earth. Fifty feet, forty feet, thirty feet, he was practically in front of her now, twenty feet, her eyes went wide and she yanked on the reins, but it was far too late for that, ten feet-

Kristoff fired his legs, pushing his horse off balance, but not enough to slow his leap straight for Anna. He twisted in midair so that he was flying through the air on his side, coming in behind her. He wrapped both arms around her midsection and jerked his body back, pulling her backwards and sideways off the saddle with a scream. They fell through the air for a long time, before-

SPLASH!

They landed hard in the stream in a wild tangle of limbs. Kristoff felt something jab him hard in the stomach, and the air escaped his lungs in one big bubble. He pushed off the bottom and surfaced, standing waist deep in the water, hacking and coughing. Anna was staggering away from him, drenched to the bone. She was almost to the shore. Her back heaved in stuttering breaths.

“Anna!” Kristoff shouted, or tried to. He hadn’t yet caught his breath. She spun around to face him, standing ankle deep in the water.

“Stay away!” she cried, sobbing. “I mean it Kristoff! Stay away!”

“No,” he replied, stepping forward.

“Stay away from me!”

“No,” he said again, taking another step forward.

“Stay away!” She held up her hand, and a ball of flame shimmered there. Kristoff stopped and looked at it.

“Are you going to kill me, Anna?”

“I don’t want to hurt you…”

“You won’t.” He took another step.

“I already have! I almost killed you all! Stay away from me!” The flame grew a little brighter. Her face was contorted with anguish.

“No.” He stepped forward again. They were just ten feet apart now. She threw the ball at the water just in front of him, and a geyser of steam erupted there. Kristoff didn’t flinch.

“I’m not safe!” she screamed at him.

“No, you’re not,” Kristoff agreed.

“Then stay away! Don’t get yourself killed!”

“No.”

“Why won’t you leave me alone!?”

“Because I love you.” He stepped forward again. They were five feet apart.

“Kristoff- I love you too- that’s why you need to stay away!” Tears were pouring down Anna’s face, and she was pulling at her hair, looking beside herself with anguish. “There’s something wrong with me!”

“Let me help.” 

“It’s too dangerous to be around me!” She conjured another ball of fire. Kristoff cocked an eyebrow at her.

“If you’re going to kill me, do it. Because that’s the only way I’ll stop.” He took another step forward. “I’m never abandoning you again, Anna.” Anna’s hands were trembling, then the ball of flame vanished in a wisp of smoke.

“You idiot,” she said. Her voice was shaking. “Why won’t you stay away?”

“Because I’m your idiot,” he said, taking a final step forward. They were almost touching now. He reached out towards her hand, but just before he touched it, she drew it back.

“Is Heins okay?”

“... I think so.”

She looked at him, looking more helpless and exhausted than Kristoff had ever seen. “How can I face them?” she whispered.

“Anna… what happened isn’t your fault.”

She stepped back like she had been slapped. “How can you say that?”

“Was it Elsa’s fault that she caused the Great Freeze? Or that she froze your heart?”

“No, but-”

“But nothing.” Kristoff cut across, stepping forward to close the gap once again. “Elsa needed your help to fix all of that. You don’t have to do this alone, Anna.” He reached for her hand again, and this time, she didn’t pull away.

She looked up at him with watery eyes. “Why are you doing this?” she whispered.

Kristoff shrugged. “I had a very good teacher.”


	26. Reunions: Heins - Return

Ever since those sickening nights when Heins had been forced to wield the cat o’ nine tails against Elsa, he had wished that they could have exchanged places. Leaving the unimaginable pain aside, the scars he had left on her were a constant, painful reminder of the unspeakable acts he had committed. He hoped that this made up for that in some small way.

He had managed to leap on top of Elsa just in time, a fraction of a second before the flames whipped over him. The pain that surged in his back was indescribable. It tore all thoughts from his mind, all feeling from the rest of his body. His vision went blank and his nostrils were overwhelmed with the smell of burnt flesh and hair. His ears were full of the sounds of screams, and it took a long time for him to realize they were his screams. He thought he could hear other people shouting, and, after what seemed like an eternity, something pulled him off of Elsa and set him on the ground next to her. His vision cleared just enough to see her looking at him, tears streaming down her cheeks. He felt his shirt being cut off of him, then he felt pressure on his back, as someone smeared something thick on it. He screamed louder, his eyes shut tight, but then the pain started to lessen, bit by bit. His mind cleared a little, and while it was still agony, he was no longer screaming. He realized someone was speaking to him.

“Heins? Heins, can you hear me?”

He tried to answer, but his mouth would not form the words. Instead, he nodded the smallest amount he could, but even that tiny motion sent a shockwave of agony rippling from the back of his neck.

“Your whole back is burned,” the voice said. “Don’t try to move. I’ve got something on it that should help with the pain.” 

Heins grunted his acknowledgement, and then another voice, this one further away, shouted, “Baldur’s hurt too, Elsie! Over here!”

“Stay still, Heins,” the voice, who Heins now recognized as Elsie, said. He had no interest in disobeying. He felt a hand touch his, and he opened his eyes to see Elsa reaching for him. He took her hand, and they stayed like that for a long time, while the pain in Heins’s back lessened to a bearable level. He had no idea what Elsie had put on him, but it was working wonders. 

“Thank you, Heins,” Elsa whispered, her voice cracking from the screams. He opened his eyes again. With tremendous effort, and a great deal of pain, he lifted his head to look her in the eye.

“I’d do it again,” he said in a hoarse voice. “What happened to Anna?”

“She… she ran.”

This exchange took the rest of the strength he had just now, and he laid his head back down and closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, Elsa’s were closed and she was breathing in a slow, steady rhythm- she was asleep. Their hands were still clasped. His back still hurt, and no doubt would for quite some time, but it was bearable pain. He lifted his head and looked around. It was nearing dusk. He saw a reassembled camp looking a little worse for wear, with many of the tents being either singed in places or having holes burnt straight through the sides. Around a small campfire, he saw Alan, Cari, Silas, Leila…. Everyone except Kristoff and Anna. Baldur had a bandage wrapped around his shoulder, but everyone else seemed unhurt. 

Heins let go of Elsa’s hand, placing both of his flat on the ground next to him. He took two deep breaths, then wrenched himself up so that he knelt on the ground, grunting in pain as he did so.

“Heins?!” It was Elsie, and she sounded alarmed. “You shouldn’t be moving!”

Heins ignored her. He pulled one leg forward, then used his own knee as a brace to lever himself to his feet, his back still to the group. A wave of dizziness crashed over him, and he almost fell, but just before he did, he felt someone duck under his arm and a hand wrap around his waist, supporting him. He looked down to see Ciri, her eyes full of concern and something that might have been amusement. 

“You know,” she said with a wry grin, breathing quickened from the dash to his side, “you royals sure are a stubborn bunch, I’ll give you that.”

“Comes with the territory,” Heins croaked. His throat was very dry, and it hurt to speak. “Water.”

“I got it,” Alan said from behind them. He crossed in front of Heins and held up a waterskin, helping Heins to guide it into his mouth. The water stung Heins’s throat, but once he had a few gulps, the stinging went away and he drank deeply. By the time he stopped, the waterskin was almost empty. “Huh,” Alan said, shaking it to feel how little was left. “Turns out being set on fire makes you pretty thirsty. Who would have thought?”

“Anything for science,” Heins said, giving a tired smile. He glanced down at Ciri and gave her a small, affectionate squeeze of gratitude. “I’m okay now, Ciri. Thank you.”

“You sure?” Heins nodded. “Alright.” She moved away, but stayed poised to jump back under his arm if it looked like he was going to fall. He swayed, but only slightly, and then he stood there, quite still, and Ciri backed up, satisfied that he wouldn’t tip over trying to walk. He looked back down at Elsa, thought about waking her, but decided to let her sleep on. He walked on unsteady legs towards the fire, and Silas slid off of the stump he had been sitting on, gesturing for Heins to sit. Heins thanked him gratefully and took his place, leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees, trying hard not to move too much. Ciri and Alan took their seats as well, then continued their conversation, Heins content to listen to Baldur’s only slightly extremely embellished and ever escalating tales of the Queensguard’s exploits to Ciri, which somehow always seemed to involve Baldur heroically riding in at the last moment to save everyone. Ciri, to her credit, was growing more skeptical with each story.

“So you beat them all by yourself?” Ciri asked, apparently awestruck by the latest edition of “Baldur Saves Everyone”, this one featuring Baldur defeating a dozen guards singlehandedly after the rest of the Queensguard had all been beaten.

Baldur shrugged modestly. “The others had softened them up first.”

“Wow…” She turned to Leila. “Yeah, not buying it. What really happened?”

“He knocked himself out on a doorframe and was captured immediately. He was out that entire fight.” Laughter rang out across the camp, Heins trying to laugh without moving, which was not easy.

“Kristoff!” Cari cried suddenly, leaping to her feet. The others followed her gaze to see Kristoff leading his horse into the camp. “Where’s Anna!” 

“Nearby,” Kristoff said with a guarded tone, beginning to tether his horse to the tree where the others were. “First things first, how’s Elsa?”

“She’s okay,” Elsie said. “I’ve checked on her leg, the infection is going down. She’ll be fine in a couple weeks.”

“I don’t know if any of us can do enough to thank you, Elsie,” Cari said. Elsie waved away the praise.

“I’m happy to help.”

“Good to see you up and about, Heins,” Kristoff continued. “How’s your back?” 

“It’s seen better days, but I think I’ll be okay.”

“He should be,” Elsie added, as Kristoff joined them around the fire. “It’s a painful burn, but mostly because of how large it is. It didn’t reach too deep. I don’t even think it’ll scar, and even if it does, he shouldn’t have any long-term problems.”

“That’s good.” He noticed Baldur’s shoulder. “You get burned too?”

“A bit. I’ve had worse sunburns,” Baldur said, waving away his concern. “This is just to keep it from stinging, once Heins was sorted.” He indicated the bandage, and Elsie nodded her affirmation.

“What about you, Elsie?”

“Jaw’s a little sore,” Elsie said, dodging the question. “She’s got a hell of a swing, that one.”

“That she does. How are you, though?” Kristoff didn’t fall for her misdirection.

“I’m fine,” Elsie said, and Heins could see in everyone’s faces that not one of them believed her. They just continued watching her, waiting for a real answer. “Okay, I’m upset,” she sighed after a few moments. “Don’t get me wrong,” she continued, looking a little defensive. “I know she didn’t mean to do the fire thing. But she didn’t hit me with fire. She hit me. That was her.”

“I know,” Kristoff sighed, leaning forward and hanging his head. “She’s…” He exhaled, sat back up, opened his mouth again, then closed it.

“Use small words, Kristoff,” Alan said, nudging him with a cheeky smile. Kristoff gave a weary grin.

“Anna’s convinced that the Anna that hit you-” he nodded at Elsie- “and burned you guys-” he nodded at Heins and Baldur- “is the real Anna now. That’s just who she is- angry, violent, and dangerous.”

“Well that’s stupid,” Elsie said at once, to common agreement. “Wait, you guys didn’t think I meant I wouldn’t forgive Anna, right?” she asked, to common dissent.

“I mean, I don’t think any of us are  _ thrilled _ exactly, but we understand,” Baldur said, folding his hands behind his head and leaning back. “Does she think we haven’t all lashed out at one another over the past two years? I mean, yes, her lashing out does tend to be a little more  _ hot tempered _ -” every single person around the fire groaned- “but the principle is the same.”

“This whole thing is stupid, though,” Ciri said, then blushed as everyone turned their attention to her. She still wasn’t very comfortable in this setting, with royalty and elite soldiers all turned towards her, but her mouth kept outrunning her brain. “I mean- if the ‘real’ Anna were some heartless jerk, why would she run away after what happened? It’s like- did anyone think Elsa was heartless for running away from her coronation? I was only a kid and even  _ I _ knew she was  _ trying _ to do the right thing.”

“Exactly!” Kristoff said, far too loudly, and everyone looked at him, surprised. “ _ Thank you, Ciri _ .”

She blinked twice, then Heins saw dawning realization on her face. He was only a second or two behind.

“Anna, you can come out now,” Heins called.

A familiar pale face with a shock of strawberry blonde hair peeked out from behind a tree, like a child playing hide and seek. There was a general cry of enthusiastic welcome, and Anna stepped out fully, her hands clutched in front of her heart. Something blue was wrapped around several of her fingers. Her expression was downcast and trepidatious, and her gaze was locked to the ground. Her shoulders trembled with shaky breaths.

“Hey Anna!”

“I’m so glad you came back!”

“You had us worried there, Anna!”

“Come sit down, Anna!”

Anna just stood there, looking very overwhelmed, very haggard, and very, very exhausted. “You guys really aren’t mad at me?” she asked, her voice unsteady. 

“Nah,” Cari said, and everyone else shook their heads. “There might be a couple of us you owe an apology-” she gave pointed looks at Heins, Elsie, and Baldur- “but no, we’re not mad. To say that the past two years, and today in particular, have been ‘stressful’ is the biggest understatement since ‘Maybe Hans isn’t such a good guy after all’.” Everyone laughed at that, and even Anna giggled a little. “All of us have torn into each other. We just don’t happen to have magical fire powers. Now come join us.” Anna took shaky steps towards them, then sat down next to Kristoff, a little separate from the rest.

“Still,” Anna said, in a voice so quiet they all had to lean closer to hear. “I’m so… so sorry… All of you are better than I deserve.” Heins could see a few of them open their mouths to protest, but each closed it again, waiting for Anna to finish what she wanted to say. “I… I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I feel…” She took a deep breath.

“Anna, you don’t have to…” Kristoff murmured, but she shook her head.

“Yes I do. I don’t know why I feel so empty, and so lost, and so…. It’s so nice to be around all of you again, but it doesn’t make me as  _ happy _ as it should, and I don’t know why.”

For a long while, the only sounds were the crackling fire and an owl hooting in the trees behind them. Anna stared into the flames, unwilling to make eye contact with anyone. Even Kristoff seemed to be at a loss for what to say, and no one wanted to speak first for fear of accidentally making Anna’s mental state worse. When a voice did finally break the silence, it was an unexpected one.

“Anna…” Elsa’s voice was weak, but lucid.

“Elsa!” Anna cried, jumping to her feet. She ran to Elsa’s side and knelt down next to her. Heins thought about following, but decided he would let the sisters talk in private. If they wanted to talk to anyone else, they would say so.


	27. Reunions: Elsa - The Door Opens

Heins didn’t know it, but Elsa was not asleep when he got up. She wasn’t sure why she pretended to be asleep. She supposed she was still probably at least a little drunk, either that or she had lost so much blood that morning that she was still woozy. Or maybe it was just that she had a lot on her mind.

The day had been eventful, that much was certain. The wound in her side had been all but forgotten by now with the horrible pain in her leg. She had not experienced agony like that since the nights in Hans’s camp seven years ago. The feeling of her thigh being torn open, of her  _ bone _ being ripped apart, would visit her nightmares for years to come. Then, while she was still delirious from pain and blood loss, Anna decided to blow up the camp and run away. Heins saved her, which she  _ was _ grateful for, but at the same time, she wished that he hadn’t. Given the choice between her being in pain, and him being in pain, she would pick herself, without hesitation, every single time.

The more pressing issue was what were they going to do about Anna? For the first time, she was faced with almost the exact inverse of her own situation. She had frozen her coronation and fled. Anna set fire to the camp and fled. Elsa had accidentally injured Anna. Anna had accidentally injured Heins. Anna had run after Elsa. And Elsa… was laying here, useless. Kristoff had gone after her, yes, and that was a good thing, but the fact that Elsa was not able to do for Anna what she had for her filled her with a guilt that was almost unbearable. 

If it hadn’t been for Anna, Elsa had no doubt that she would be dead, either by her own hand or the scared and desperate citizenry. It was possible that Arendelle would have thawed with her death. But somehow, Elsa didn’t think it would have. It would have remained in that eternal winter forever, a cursed land, a desolate land, filled with the bones of those who had trusted her to lead them, the survivors spreading tales of the frozen wasteland once called Arendelle, and the evil sorceress queen who had made it that way. Elsa could live a thousand years and never earn the gift her sister had given her then, and now, when she had the chance to begin making it up to her for real, she wasn’t able to. It was almost enough to make her scream with frustration.

For a time after Heins had moved away, Elsa lay there, her eyes closed, trying to quiet her mind, and perhaps get a bit more sleep. Kristoff had gone after Anna. There was nothing Elsa could do right now. She had to just relax, so that she could help support Anna when she came back. She listened to Baldur’s almost completely made up stories of bravery with a small smile on her face, and was just about to drift into a (hopefully) restful sleep when she heard Cari cry out in surprise.

“Kristoff! Where’s Anna?” Elsa did not open her eyes yet, but she perked up and listened hard.

“Nearby.” Elsa smirked. Anna was indeed nearby, she was sure of it. Near enough to eavesdrop. “First things first, how’s Elsa?” Any doubt that Elsa had, vanished. He was asking leading questions, to let Anna hear there was no permanent harm done.

“She’s okay,” Elsie said. “I’ve checked on her leg, the infection is going down. She’ll be fine in a couple weeks.” So whatever pain she had endured this morning was worth it, at least. She lost the thread of the conversation for a moment as she celebrated the news. She wasn’t sure if she could take more pain like that. She listened carefully again as Kristoff asked about Elsie.

“Jaw’s a little sore. She’s got a hell of a swing, that one.” Wait, what? Had Anna  _ hit _ Elsie? What the hell had happened that morning? 

“That she does. How are you, though?”  _ Thank you, Kristoff, _ Elsa thought. Elsie’s answer had been less than convincing.

“I’m fine,” Elsie said. At first, Elsa thought the group would let that stand, but no one spoke, until Elsie continued, “Okay, I’m upset. Don’t get me wrong, I know she didn’t mean to do the fire thing. But she didn’t hit me with fire. She hit me. That was her.” Elsa lay there, stunned at what she was hearing. She knew Anna had been through more than any of them realized. But Elsa could not reconcile the sunny, bright, good-natured redhead with someone who would strike a young woman,  _ especially _ one that had just saved Elsa’s life, twice. Elsa’s heart broke yet again. What could have brought Anna to this?

“Anna’s convinced that the Anna that hit you and burned you guys is the real Anna now. That’s just who she is- angry, violent, and dangerous.” Kristoff was saying.

“Well that’s stupid. Wait, you guys didn’t think I meant I wouldn’t forgive Anna, right?” Elsie said, and Elsa felt her respect of Elsie grow tenfold in that moment. 

“I mean, I don’t think any of us are  _ thrilled _ exactly, but we understand,” Baldur said. “Does she think we haven’t all lashed out at one another over the past two years? I mean, yes, her lashing out does tend to be a little more  _ hot tempered _ -” Elsa almost joined in the chorus of groans from around the campfire- “but the principle is the same.”

“This whole thing is stupid, though,” Ciri said, and Elsa felt a rush of affection for the girl. She had taken a great liking to Ciri, which she supposed was only natural, Ciri had saved her life, after all. But this felt different. Elsa felt a connection to her beyond what she would have expected. She sensed in Ciri a kindred spirit- an orphaned girl, in over her head, trying to do what was right, to honor what her father had believed in, despite the hardships life had thrown her way. “I mean- if the ‘real’ Anna were some heartless jerk, why would she run away after what happened? It’s like- did anyone think Elsa was heartless for running away from her coronation? I was only a kid and even  _ I _ knew she was  _ trying _ to do the right thing.” As if Ciri didn’t do enough to endear herself to Elsa already. 

“Exactly!” Kristoff said, so loudly that Elsa was sure he was really talking to Anna. “ _ Thank you, Ciri _ .”

Heins had realized too. “You can come out now, Anna,” she heard him call.

Elsa waited with bated breath to see how Anna would be greeted. Turns out she needn’t have worried. The only reactions she heard were those of enthusiastic and exuberant welcome, as well as some reassurances that Anna was not some sort of pariah now. Once Anna had gotten sat down at the fire, Elsa heard her speaking, but it was so quiet that Elsa couldn’t quite make out what it was she was saying. Elsa couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Anna…” she called, as loudly as she could manage. Granted, her throat was sore and raw from that morning, and “as loudly as she could” amounted to no more than what could be considered “slightly above polite”, but it seemed to have been enough. She heard Anna cry out in response, then hurried footsteps coming towards her, and a moment later, Elsa looked up at the face of her sister, who knelt beside her. Her face was twisted in anguish, and her eyes were bloodshot and puffy.

“Anna.”

“I-I’m so sorry, Elsa,” Anna said, fighting to keep her voice level. “I… I never meant to…”

“Shh…” Elsa whispered, reaching up and wiping a tear from Anna’s cheek. “Anna. You don’t need to apologize to me. I do. I’m so sorry, Anna.”

“Why are  _ you _ sorry?” Anna’s surprise was so great that her voice didn’t even tremble.

“Because I’ve never been there for you when you needed me most.”

“But-” Anna said, but Elsa cut her off with a raised hand. She fell silent, looking at her sister through glistening eyes.

“When we were young… I pushed you away, even though you had never done anything to deserve it.” She closed her eyes, taking slow, deep breaths, trying to contain the surge of emotion rushing through her chest. “For thirteen years I shut you out, but you never stopped trying to be close to me. Every Christmas, you made me a gift. On my birthday, every year, you sang Happy Birthday to me from the hallway, and slid a handmade card under the door.” 

Elsa’s eyes burned with fresh tears. She’d kept those cards, every single one, in the drawer of her nightstand. They were probably long gone by now. She swallowed hard, and continued. “On your birthday, instead of having a big party or anything like that, you sat outside my door and just talked to me, even though I never talked back. After our parents’ funeral, you still didn’t give a thought to yourself. You came to my door, and told me you were right there for me. And I still didn’t open the door.

“Then the gates opened, and I promised you I’d never close them again. But I never opened my door, the door between us. Not really.” Anna looked at Elsa. Her lip was quivering, her eyes watery. Elsa kept going. She had to get this out. “I acted like I had. I spent time with you again, time I enjoyed more than I could ever express. But I still never let you in. I never treated you as a sister should, I never shared with you my hopes, my dreams, my fears, my worries, my troubles.” Elsa drew in a shuddering breath.

“When I was taken from the castle, you fought for me. You came for me, even though you were injured. You saved me. And I still didn’t let you in. When Hans resurfaced, and the war began, I  _ still  _ didn’t tell you how afraid I was. How incapable I felt. Not until it was far too late.”

“Why?” Anna whispered. It was a simple enough question, but the fact that it had to be asked hurt Elsa deeper than she thought possible.

“Because I was selfish. I enjoyed how much you looked up to me, despite how little I deserved it.”

“Th-that’s not true!”

Elsa smiled sadly. “I’m afraid it is. When I first saw you practicing your magic in the woods, what did I do? I knew what you were going through. What you were trying to learn. I knew I could help. But I didn’t. What did you do when you first saw me?” Elsa answered herself before Anna got a chance. “You were mad, yes, but only for a moment. And then, you comforted me.  _ You _ comforted  _ me. _ Even after all I’d done, all the pain I’d caused you, you never closed your door. But I never opened mine.” Elsa met Anna’s eyes, the blue and the teal both shining with tears. “You looked up to me for so long, but I never told you how much I look up to you. You are a far, far better person than I am, Anna.”

“How can you say that after what I did this morning?” Anna mumbled, looking down at the ground. “I  _ hit _ Elsie. For no reason! I burned your husband!”

“Anna, you lashed out under stress and hit someone. Heins won’t even have permanent damage, according to Elsie.  _ I froze the kingdom because I lost my glove _ .” This was stretching the truth almost to a breaking point, but it was technically not a lie.

“Yeah, but-” she broke off. She looked afraid and upset. “I’m scared of myself, Elsa. Scared of what I’ve become. I don’t…  _ feel _ anything. It’s all just surface level, I’ll smile for a moment, then it disappears and I’m hollow again. I thought I was happy with Kristoff last night, then I woke up this morning and it felt so fake, like I was just going through the motions. I get so angry so quickly, then it just leaves. What’s wrong with me?”

Elsa patted the ground next to her. “Come here, Anna.” Anna hesitated, then moved closer and lay down next to Elsa. Elsa pulled Anna to her, so that Anna’s head was resting on her shoulder, and Elsa wrapped both arms around her sister. “Nothing is wrong with you,” Elsa whispered. She kissed the top of Anna’s head and she felt Anna tremble, and knew she had begun crying. “You’re not a bad person, Anna. It takes time for walls to come down, I’m afraid. You’ve been through so much. More than any of us here. And you’ve had to do it all alone, thanks to me. I can’t change the past. I wish I could. There are so many things I would change. But I can’t. All I can do is be here for you now. You’re not alone anymore. I’m so sorry you ever were. I love you, Anna.”

Anna sniffled. “I love you too, Elsa.” And so they stayed until the sun rose, the distance between them shrinking, Elsa’s door swinging open at long last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longer update today, but I wanted to finish up Reunions. Up next, Hunting the Spirits. See you Thursday!


	28. Hunting the Spirits: Anna - Apology, Part One

When Anna woke up in the morning, the first thing she noticed was that she felt better than she had in a very long time. She had returned to the camp with Kristoff, trembling with fear at the thought of facing everyone, just for everyone to welcome her back with open arms and understanding. Then the talk with Elsa, though brief, all things considered, was cathartic and very overdue. She could  _ feel _ the difference in their relationship. Elsa had finally been open and honest with her, which is all Anna could ever remember wanting from her sister. They understood each other on a deeper level than ever before. Neither of them knew the true extent of the demons the other carried until now, but now that they did, Anna felt, for the first time in forever, optimistic about the future. There were still challenges on their path- massive ones- but as far as Anna was concerned, the love she shared with her family is what she was fighting for in the first place. That love was being rebuilt, slowly, haltingly, with already a few missteps, but surely. 

Unfortunately, the second and third things she noticed were not quite such good feelings. The second thing was that she was still laying on Elsa’s shoulder, which on its own wasn’t a problem. What was a problem was the large wet spot of drool pooling on her shoulder. 

The third thing she noticed, or maybe it was more of a realization, was that she had not woken up of her own accord, but rather, by the sound of laughter, poorly stifled, by a large group of people. She opened her eyes to see the entire group milling around, giggling and pointing at the sisters.

“Hey!” she cried indignantly, wiping her mouth and lurching away from Elsa, who woke with a startled yelp and gasp of pain. Elsa clutched her hand to her side, over the bandage. 

“Wha…?” Elsa blinked, her eyes wandering around, still looking half-asleep. 

“It’s not nice to laugh at people!” Anna scolded, but she felt guilty when she saw Ciri looking ashamed, still unused to dealing with the royals on a personal level. “Be careful, I might drool on you all next!” she threatened to lighten the mood, and she was heartened to see Ciri brighten up. Elsa had caught up to what was going on, and looked a mixture of amused, disgusted, and impressed as to the size of the damp spot on her shirt.

“You know,” Elsa said, levering herself up with a wince of pain so that she was propped on her elbows, not seeming to notice an exasperated look that passed between Elsie and Ciri, “I  _ was _ hoping to get a bath today, so… thanks, sis!”

“Anytime,” Anna muttered, still a little bitter at being laughed at by the entire group, but at the same time, maybe it was a sign that their bond was healing, at least a little. As they all moved away to pack up the camp, she climbed to her feet and stretched her stiff body. Sleeping on the ground was not the most restful thing. Then, she noticed that Kristoff was still just standing there, beaming at her. “What?” she asked, drawing away, feeling self-conscious. 

“Gareth got back after you went to sleep last night.”

“Gareth?” Elsa asked. “Where did he go?”

“He’s found us a translator for that book of yours.”

“Wait, what?” Elsa and Anna said together. Kristoff’s grin widened further, and his chest swelled with pride. 

“That’s what I’ve been doing for two years. Gareth and I built quite the network across the Empire, and last night, it paid off, in a bigger way than ever before. There’s an Imperial researcher named Arne in Weselton. He studies the language of the Ancients. If we can capture him, he can translate the book for us.”

“Are you serious?” Elsa said, sounding awed.

“Yep. And Elsie said you can ride today, Elsa. If you’re up for it anyway.”

“It doesn’t matter if I am,” Elsa said, her eyes shining, struggling to sit up. Kristoff and Anna both moved forward and pushed her back down.

“Calm down there, feisty pants.” Kristoff winked at Anna, who grinned at the use of her nickname for Elsa. “We’re not leaving just yet. Elsie needs to take a look at you first.” Elsa sighed and acquiesced, flopping back a little too hard and wincing in pain. “Both of you, actually. Anna, how’s your shoulder?”

“It’s fine,” Anna said. “It’s a little stiff, but I think that’s because-” she nodded down where she had been laying. “But Elsie can take a look.” Anna stood back up and headed towards the rest of the group, but Elsa called her back.

“Anna?”

“Hmm?”

“Can you please have Ciri come over here?”

“Yeah, sure.” Anna found Ciri without trouble and told her Elsa wanted to see her. As Ciri turned to walk away, however, she looked back, frowning at Anna.

“Aren’t you coming, Your Highness?”

Anna shrugged. “She didn’t say to. She just said to have you go over there.” The blood drained from Ciri’s face, and she chewed her lip. Anna felt like she was looking in a mirror for a moment- she’d often do the same thing when she was nervous. “What’s wrong?”

“Why would the Queen want to see me alone? Am I in trouble? Is she mad at me for laughing? I didn’t mean to, Your Highness, I swear-”

“Ciri, Ciri, calm down,” said Anna, putting what she hoped was a reassuring hand on Ciri’s shoulder. “I don’t think it’s anything like that.”

“What’s going on?” Alan, who had been walking by carrying a folded up tent, paused at the expression on Ciri’s face.

“Nothing,” Anna insisted. “Elsa just asked me to have Ciri go talk to her, she’s just freaking out because-”

“Oh,” Alan said, his face going somber. “Oh no. I’m so sorry, Ciri.” He grasped her hand and shook it solemnly. “It was nice knowing you.” With that, he walked away, leaving Ciri even more panicked, and Anna torn between annoyance and amusement. After several more assurances that Elsa wasn’t going to freeze Ciri as punishment for laughing at her, Ciri approached Elsa with shaky steps, but her worry was for naught. Elsa’s face lit up when Ciri greeted her with a curtsey, and she started saying something to the younger girl with a gentle smile on her face. Anna turned to her own task, finding her quarry in short order.

“Elsie? Can you take a look at my shoulder?”

“Sure,” she said, moving towards Anna, who stepped back.

“Not here. Can we go somewhere with some privacy? The bandage covers more than just the wound.” She gestured vaguely around her chest, and Elsie smiled, but the smile didn’t seem to reach her emerald eyes.

“Of course, Your Highness.”

Anna led the way out of the small camp and behind a patch of bushes that provided reasonable concealment, but when Elsie reached for Anna’s bandages, Anna stepped back again.

“I lied,” she said, and Elsie frowned.

“What do you mean, Your Highness?”

“The bandage is just this,” she said, and pulled her collar aside to show the square patch of cloth held on by a single tied bandage. “I just… wanted to apologize.”

“Th- there’s no apology necessary, Your High-”

“Please just call me Anna, and yes, it is necessary.” Anna took a breath, collecting her thoughts. “There’s no excuse for what I did. I heard what you said last night. You were right. I didn’t mean to set anything on fire. But I meant to hit you. And I’m so, so sorry.”

“Thank you for saying that, Your Hi-” She stopped, corrected herself. “Anna.”

Anna shook her head. “I don’t know why I’m like this now, why I lose control so easily. It’s like… If I’m not feeling angry, I’m not feeling anything at all. So I embrace the anger because at least then I’m not so empty.” Tears stung her eyes, and a lump formed in her throat. 

“Anna…” Elsie looked like she didn’t want to continue, but then she said, “Other than the past few days, when’s the last time you talked to anyone? Anything other than small talk.”

“Before the Fall.”

Elsie nodded, her eyes full of sympathy. “Give yourself time, Anna. That much isolation is not healthy. It will take time before you feel normal again. But I promise- you’ll get there.”

Elsie was the second person to tell Anna she needed to take her time. The only problem was that patience was never one of Anna’s virtues. But she accepted the advice, let Elsie examine her shoulder (“Few more days and you’ll be all set”), thanked her, waited for her to leave, then sat down in the leaves and cried.


	29. Hunting the Spirits: Heins - Apology, Part Two

On the third morning after Elsa’s surgery and the world’s most explosive temper tantrum, Anna approached Heins. Her eyes were downcast, and she kept tucking her hair behind her ear, fidgeting with her blue ribbon. “Heins? Can I talk to you, please? In private?”

“Huh? Oh, sure, Anna.”

Anna gestured for him to follow, then turned and walked out of the camp. Heins glanced over at Elsa, who was being attended to by Elsie. She gave him an encouraging smile, and nodded for him to follow Anna. She reached up and squeezed Heins’s hand as he passed.

Anna led the way out of earshot of the rest of the camp, then turned around to face Heins, though she still did not meet his eyes. She was looking at the ground, her shoulders slumped and nibbling on her bottom lip. She looked very much like a child caught sneaking sweets before dinner.

“Um… I wanted- Uh...” Anna didn’t seem to know what to say. Heins stood there, feeling more uncomfortable with every second of silence and every false start Anna took. He thought he knew what she wanted to say, but he was afraid to speak for her. While he waited for her to speak, he was struck by how  _ terrible _ she looked. 

She had changed her hair, and while Anna had always had a preference for understated clothing, the loose rags she wore now were a far cry from even the plainest clothing back in the castle. That was all normal. Everyone had changed their look rather drastically to help them stay incognito within the Empire. In fact, Heins rather thought the shorter hair suited her well. The thing that struck him was her eyes. Before, when he would look into Anna’s eyes, they would be full of life and love, humor and good cheer, optimism and hope. Behind her eyes now was… nothing. No happiness, no hope, no love, no  _ life _ . It was like she was nothing but a shell, mechanically going through the motions without really living. None of them had had a very good time since the Fall. But now, looking into her eyes, he had no doubt that Anna had gotten the worst of it.

“How’s your back?” she asked at last. 

“It’s fine.” 

“Good… that’s good.” She fell silent again, eyes downcast, and then, without warning, she burst into tears. Heins stood frozen as Anna stumbled forward. He took her into his arms as she collapsed against him, sobbing hard. “I’m- sorry-” she choked. “I’m- so- so- sorry…” To Heins’s great relief, Anna stayed aware of herself enough to not embrace Heins back, but left her arms curled up between them so she didn’t irritate his burns.

“It’s okay, Anna,” he said, patting her back with clumsy motions. He figured she was going to apologize, but this was not at all how he pictured it going. Unfortunately, this did nothing but intensify her sobs.

“I don’t know what’s  _ wrong _ with me!” she cried.

“Anna, what-”

“I’m so sorry!” she wailed, and Heins gave up trying to get coherent thoughts out of her just now. He settled for just holding her as she cried, at a loss for what to do next. He liked Anna, a lot. He’d do anything in the world for her, as he would for Elsa or Kristoff. But he had never been that close to Anna herself. Most of the obligation he felt towards her was Elsa’s by proxy. It wasn’t by design, they had just never spent that much time together with just the two of them. Almost every conversation he had ever had with her was spent in the company of Elsa, or Kristoff, or both. In a situation like this, he was very far out of his depth. 

After a minute or two, Anna began to catch her breath. Heins broke away from the embrace, but still held onto Anna’s shoulders as she wiped her eyes with her sleeves. “I’m sorry,” she muttered, her eyes cast downwards. “I didn’t mean to cry.”

“You don’t need to apologize for that, Anna.” He hesitated, then continued. “Anna, I’m just going to level with you.” She looked up at him. Her eyes weren’t as empty as before, but they were now full of anguish and confusion. “I know you didn’t mean to hurt me, any more than Elsa meant to cause the Great Freeze. So if you insist on apologizing for that, there’s truly no need, but if you insist, then apology accepted.” She did not respond, but continued looking at him. “I just want you to know that I’m here for you… you know, if you need it. I know I’m not Elsa, or Kristoff, but… if you need anything-  _ anything _ , I’m here.”

Anna was silent for a few moments, and then she smiled sadly. None of it reached her eyes. “I appreciate that Heins. I really do. But… what I need, you can’t help me with.”

“What do you need?”

“.... someone to fix me.”

“Wha-”

“I’m really sorry I hurt you, Heins.” With that, Anna walked away, leaving a confused and upset Heins in her wake.


	30. Hunting the Spirits: Elsa - In Transit

Over the next few weeks of travel across the countryside towards Weselton, Elsa’s wounds healed at a rate that shocked Elsie. Within just a few days, she was able to stand and walk unassisted, as long as she was careful. By the end of a week she could ride on her own. By the third week, she could walk the entire day without issue from her wounds, though her feet were none too pleased with her. Elsie theorized it might have something to do with the spirit they now knew resided in her, as Anna’s wound healed quicker than expected as well, while Heins’s burns did not. 

The days began to blur together. Wake up, eat breakfast. Travel through the morning. Break around 1:00 when the sun was at its highest, to give the horses a break. Eat lunch. Travel again until early evening. Eat dinner. Train for a few hours, either with magic, blades, or both. Sleep. Repeat. They avoided roads and gave houses and towns a very wide berth, with Gareth in the sky helping to guide them. That said, Elsa could not say she wasn’t enjoying herself. She had her family back. She had her friends back. The distance between them was shrinking every day. Plus, she had been getting rather close with Ciri.

The more Elsa talked with Ciri, the more comfortable Ciri became around her, the more Elsa liked her. She was bright, inquisitive, witty, and insightful. She had only been eleven when her father died, and had scraped out a living since then, surviving on scraps from neighbors and working odd jobs whenever she could. Heins had also taken a liking to her, and could often be seen telling stories and fables from his childhood, which never failed to elicit a smile from Ciri, and from Elsa when she saw them together. 

Elsa and Anna were spending a good deal of time together as well. True to Elsa’s promise, she was, for the first time in her life, completely open and honest with her sister, and as the weeks passed, she could feel their fractured relationship being reforged. As they soon discovered, the magic they each had was very much like the sisters themselves- as different in outward temperament as it was possible to be, and yet, with so many deep seated similarities that they were able to learn a surprising amount from one another. With Anna’s help, Elsa was able to learn to harness her magic in more powerful ways by opening herself up to her emotions more, and Elsa was able to help Anna gain more control over her power by training her to stay calmer under pressure.

In addition to the techniques they were able to learn, they also discovered ways to combine their powers, with sometimes devastating results. For example, by creating a loose pile of ice chips, then enveloping them with fire, they could create a steam explosion of awesome, and unexpected, magnitude, far beyond what either of them could conjure on their own. Elsa’s ears rang for almost sixteen hours after their first test of that particular combination, and they had to make a hasty getaway when Gareth reported an Empire patrol headed towards the noise.

Another useful technique they developed was one that Elsa had tried on her own, but the concentration and coordination required had always stymied her: the ability to leap through the air, propelled by her ice, landing on a cushion of snow. It was a modified version of the game they had played as children, and Elsa was so scared of repeating the accident from that horrible day that it took Anna a solid week of convincing for her to agree to give it a try. Once they did, Elsa found her improved control over her powers was well suited to this maneuver. 

Anna bent her knees and jumped, and as she did, Elsa summoned a pillar of ice beneath her, propelling her twenty feet high on some attempts, before landing in a quickly constructed snowbank. Upon seeing Anna soar through the air a few times, landing safely and laughing hysterically inside the snowbank, first Ciri, then the entire group insisted on trying it as well. Even Silas, after much cajoling, deigned to participate, and Elsa thought he may have even smiled- a bit. They took an early stop that day, and the air rang with their joyous laughter far into the night, as they did ever more complex jumps, starting with simple spins and ending with two of them flying through the air side by side, performing synchronized double backflips. Ciri jumped the most, and Elsa felt a special thrill every time she saw her cheeks flush and heard her laughter ring out.

She and Heins were also able to make some headway in repairing their relationship. On occasions, she still felt so guilty for having left him that it would make her feel physically ill, but he was always there, his kindness and patience rock solid, giving her a reprieve from the shame. Once Elsa’s injuries had healed enough, they started to broach the physical barriers that had erected over the past two years, a process that was frustratingly slow. The heightened passions and emotions that ran through Elsa on these occasions caused more than a few issues at first. The first few attempts ended in absolute spiraling disaster on a scale Elsa would have thought impossible before it actually happened. 

Though Elsa desired him deeply, no sooner would they touch each other than the guilt of leaving Heins made her feel as though she didn’t deserve him. This led to a deep feeling of shame, which Heins, ever in tune with her feelings, picked up on, which ruined the mood. This led to Elsa feeling guilty that her own issues were not only getting in the way of her own pleasure, but she was doing nothing but sexually frustrating the person she loved as well. This led to Elsa sitting there, naked, despondent and crying, Heins trying to comfort her. This led to Elsa hating herself even more as the person she was trying to make happy was forced to console her for something that was completely in her control. In only a few minutes, Elsa went from a lustful, eager, and enthusiastic woman to a sobbing bundle of anxiety, depression, and inadequacy. At her absolute lowest, Elsa even considered tossing some gold Heins’s way and telling him to visit a brothel- maybe there he’d find someone who didn’t become a slobbering wreck a minute and a half in.

But no matter how much Elsa broke down sobbing, no matter how many nights ended in tearful disaster despite Elsa’s conviction, no matter how frustrated he might be, Heins never showed Elsa the slightest bit of unkindness. No matter how sure he might have been that any particular night would end in catastrophe, he did not turn Elsa down even once. He never pressured her, or rushed her. In fact, he usually wouldn’t say anything at all, just sit with her and hold her until she’d calmed down enough to get some sleep, and over time, Elsa conquered her hangups. The first time they made love, it was as though it was their very first time all over again. Elsa was pretty sure neither of them stopped smiling the entirety of the following day. Neither of them thought they would ever see the other again, and being able to share that once more was a feeling bordering on magical. The closeness they shared in the dark was worth more to Elsa than a thousand diamonds.

One day, as they neared their destination, Elsa walked alongside a horse bearing Ciri. Though Ciri had not complained even once, Elsa could tell that she was exhausted. When Elsa thought about it, she couldn't actually remember Ciri riding more than once or twice the entire time they had been traveling, and so managed to out-insist her into taking the mount today. She was listening with a fond sort of nostalgia as Ciri spoke animatedly of a boy she had a crush on back in Arendelle before the Fall.

“He was my best friend, and we hung out all the time, but at that age, boys are still supposed to be gross, right? So I was always pretending to think he was stinky or dumb around other people, and he did the same, but one day when I was eleven I found a rose on my pillow and my window was open, which I thought was really sweet at the time but now seems a little, hmm.. Invasive? But I suppose we don’t always think about stuff like that at that age, and I know he didn’t mean it to be, but anyway I wanted to do something for him back so I thought it would be a really good idea to give him a toad, because…. boys liked gross things, I guess? I don’t know! Anyway, I spent all afternoon catching a toad and went to his house and tried to sneak in, but I didn’t know which room was his so I just guessed, but it was his parents' room and his mom was in there and I got so scared I dropped the toad, and it just hopped towards his mom and she screamed and ran out of the house! I ran all the way back home and hid in my room for the rest of the day, I was afraid his mom would come and tell my dad and get me in trouble!”

Elsa smiled up at Ciri. “It’s the thought that counts?” Ciri laughed, and Elsa’s heart soared at the sound. “Wait until he hears you’re on first name terms with the Queen. That’ll  _ definitely _ get his interest!”

Ciri’s face fell, taking Elsa’s heart with it. The shiny bubble of happiness popped. The world was a cold, brutal, and cruel place. There was no room for young love, for foolish, misguided adolescent gestures of affection. 

“I never saw him again... That was right before the Fall. He and his parents were killed by the Empire.”

“Ciri, I’m-”

“It’s okay,” Ciri said, shaking her head and smiling, though there were tears in her eyes. “You didn’t know.” On an impulse, Elsa tugged on the reins of Ciri’s steed, pulling it to a stop. “Elsa?” Ciri asked, as Elsa knelt down, holding one hand out, using her other to channel her magic into her palm. 

Elsa had made many intricate things before, but this one had to be perfect. Her brow furrowed in concentration as the delicate shapes took form, building up, layer by layer, out of the cleanest white snow, shifting and melding and splitting, until she finished, and there was a perfect rose formed from snow in her hand. She snapped her fingers, and the snow transformed into pure, clear ice, and she now held a beautiful crystal rose. She smiled down at it, admiring the way the petals caught the light and glimmered like a thousand gems. She’d managed to outdo herself with this one. She stood up and presented it to Ciri.

“Here. This will never melt or break, so long as I live. I didn’t see it, but I hope it’s like the one he gave you. In his memory, and your father’s, and the memory of all those we lost in the Fall.”

Ciri stared at it, her mouth agape. She closed it, swallowed, tried to speak, swallowed again. At last, she said, “Elsa, I can’t accept this.”

Elsa had expected this. Many people thought that it was somehow improper to accept a gift from the Queen. Fortunately, Elsa’s father had taught her precisely how to counter it. “Yes you can, and you will. It is my gift to you. To refuse it would be an insult to me.” Elsa could see Ciri’s mind turning as she tried to find some way to refuse the gift without being rude, and she saw the exact moment she folded. Ciri held out her hand and took the rose from Elsa’s palm, cradling it delicately. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“You’re welcome, Ciri. I hope you like it.”

“I love it.” She caressed the petals with a touch as light as a feather.

“You won’t break it,” Elsa said, grinning.

“But look, it’s so fragile,” Ciri protested. Elsa held out her hand, and Ciri passed the rose back to her. Elsa knelt down and smashed the rose against the ground as hard as she could, once, twice, three times, ignoring Ciri’s panicked cry. She straightened back up and presented the rose. Not one piece was out of place.

“Is it now?” Elsa asked, chuckling. “I promise you, it will not break as long as I am alive.”

Ciri took it again, still more carefully than she needed to, but she began to bounce it off her palm, testing it, as though a few gentle taps would be enough to break something she had just seen withstand three much harder blows. Apparently satisfied, Ciri held it a little less delicately, holding it close to her eyes, turning it in the sunlight, the look on her face one of awe and admiration. She hardly even seemed to notice when Elsa tugged the reins again and her horse walked forward once more. So they passed into Weselton.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> she protecc
> 
> she attacc
> 
> but most importantly
> 
> she make rose that wont cracc


	31. Hunting the Spirits: Kristoff - Newfound Determination

“Morning, Anna,” Kristoff said to his wife, who was lifting her head off his chest and rubbing the sleep from her eyes, the day after they arrived in the duchy of Weselton. Kristoff tried not to let it show, but he was very worried about her. Every day, he didn’t know if that day’s Anna would be the laughing, joyous bundle of cheer and energy, or the brooding, hopeless shell of a woman. It was like she only had two settings now, boundless happiness or bottomless sadness. What was doubly difficult for Kristoff was that Anna was determined not to let anyone else see her bad days, which meant the good days were spent away from him, and the bad days were spent sheltered behind him.

“Morning.” She smiled at him, and it seemed genuine. Still too soon to tell. She made as though to get up, but Kristoff held on to her, pulling her close. “What is it?”

“I love you so much, Anna.”

“I love you too, Kristoff.” Her tone was one of quiet surprise. “What’s wrong?” He hesitated. She lifted her head and looked into his eyes. “What is it?” she asked, giving him a little shake.

“Nothing. I just… I don’t want to lose you.”

“Lose me? What do you mean?”

Kristoff ran a hand across Anna’s back. “I feel…” He stopped. Was this fair? Was this fair to dump this on Anna when she was already struggling? No. He couldn’t. “Never mind. I’m okay.”

She smiled sadly and kissed him, then snuggled closer. “Support goes both ways, sweetie,” she whispered, then hugged him tightly. “Tell me.”

Kristoff hugged her back, then sighed. “I’m afraid that we’ve changed too much. That we’ve gotten too far apart. Some days it’s almost like it’s normal, other days, I feel like I hardly know you. It feels… like you’re slipping out of reach.”

Anna didn’t respond for a long time. She didn’t try to get up or move away, she just lay there. When she finally did speak, it was in a hoarse whisper. “I’m sorry, Kristoff. I didn’t realize it was that hard on you. I’m afraid of losing you too. That whatever is wrong with me can’t be fixed. That I’m just too far gone. I love you so much, but if I can’t show it, what’s the point? It feels like I’ll never get better. And…” She sniffed and wiped her eyes. “I’m afraid that you’ll wake up someday soon and be tired of waiting for me to love you back like you deserve.”

Kristoff lifted Anna’s head. Her eyes were wet, and she was biting her lip. “Anna… you’re worth waiting for. I’ll be by your side as long as you’ll have me. I’ll support you when you’re down and celebrate with you when you’re not. I promise.”

“Then I promise I’ll never stop fighting for you,” she whispered. She kissed him, then said, “We can get through this. Together.” They stayed like that, holding each other, until the group was threatening to leave them behind if they didn’t get up soon. By that time, both were feeling better. Though it was clear to both of them that they still had work to do, they got out of bed with a new determination. Just knowing that they were both aware of the other’s fears made them so much easier to face.

“You guys have no appreciation for a healthy amount of sleep,” Anna grumbled as she exited the tent, to assorted eye rolls.

“It’s almost ten!” Heins cried, laughing.

“Yeah, well,” Anna said, but she didn’t seem to actually have an argument. Kristoff could see Elsa watching Anna with a suspicious eye, and was therefore not surprised when she asked to be with Anna for the start of the day’s travel. It happened that it was Kristoff and Heins’s turns on horses, so they rode together near the back of their loose caravan.

“How’s Anna?” Heins asked as they set off.

“No small talk, huh?”

“C’mon Kristoff, I know full well you guys weren’t sleeping, and unless you guys are really, _ really _ quiet, you weren’t doing anything else either.”

“Maybe we’re just that quiet.”

“If that’s the case, I feel really bad for Anna.” Heins was grinning, and Kristoff could see he had been walked straight into that one.

“You’re an ass,” he said casually.

“Yeah, and you’re dodging the question.”

Kristoff shrugged. “I don’t know, Heins. I love her, so much, and I know she loves me too, but…”

“But what?” Heins prompted, when Kristoff didn’t elaborate.

“I just feel so helpless. I want more than anything for her to feel like herself again, but I don’t know how to help her.”

They rode in silence for a while. Kristoff didn’t mind, he could tell Heins was giving a great deal of thought to the situation. He enjoyed the sun on his face, the wind at his back, the sound of birdsong, and tried not to think of how far his wife had slipped away from him.

“I... think,” Heins said. “You’ve always been a man of action. You see a problem, and you work tirelessly to fix it. It’s one of the things I respect most about you. But I don’t think it’s doing you any favors right now.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I think you feel so helpless because this might be one of the first problems you’ve come across that you  _ can’t _ fix. No one can, except Anna. And time.”

Kristoff threw out his hands. “Then what the hell am I supposed to do?”

“Be patient. Be supportive. Be there.” Kristoff felt Heins put a bracing hand on his shoulder. “You know better than most of us how strong she is. She’ll get through this.”

“I hope so,” Kristoff sighed, then, “Don’t tell Anna I told you anything. I feel like I probably shouldn’t have.”

“Don’t worry,” Heins laughed. “I promise you they’re talking about the same thing.”


	32. Hunting the Spirits: Elsa - A Story

“Wait, how did it all fit in there?” Anna asked, looking equal parts disgusted and amazed.


	33. Hunting the Spirits: Heins - That One Time With the Noodles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops. Fixed title of chapter.

When the company stopped that night, the last night they would spend before reaching the city of Weselton, Heins was struck by how much better Anna seemed. She talked with more gusto, her eyes had regained some of the spark they had been missing, and her laugh rang out, clear and true. Kristoff seemed to notice as well, and he and Heins spent a good chunk of the night speculating on what on earth Elsa could have said to improve Anna’s mood so much. Eventually, they parted, with a promise from Heins to ask Elsa and tell Kristoff the next day.

He fulfilled the promise as they readied for bed. “So, Elsa,” Heins said conversationally as he disrobed. “Anna seemed really chipper today.”

“She did, didn’t she?” Elsa beamed. “It felt like she was back, at least for today.”

“What did you guys talk about to cheer her up so much?”

Elsa grinned, a mischievous glint in her eye. “Oh, don’t worry about it.”

Heins paused and raised his eyebrows at her. “What’s  _ that _ supposed to mean?”

Elsa giggled, hiding her mouth with her hand. “It’s nothing.”

Heins was already curious, but this was getting to be like an itch he needed to scratch. “Are you afraid she’ll be mad if you tell me what you talked about?” She shook her head, still hiding her mouth, but Heins could see a smile in her eyes. “Come on, Elsa, if it made her feel that much better shouldn’t I know what it was? Maybe I can help too?”

Elsa’s eyes widened. She dropped her hand and leaned forward. “Will you finally tell me about what happened?” she asked in a breathless whisper, her eyes bright.

This was unexpected, and it took a moment for Heins to say, “What are you talking about?”

“I told her about the thing with the noodles-”

“YOU WHAT?”


	34. Hunting the Spirits: Anna - Passing It On

When Anna woke up the next morning, she felt better than she had in a while. Sure, she may not ever be able to see Heins in quite the same way, but that was a small price to pay for the marked increase in her outlook since talking to Elsa the day before. When she’d first asked to ride with Anna, Anna had been certain that it would be a day of commiseration, of talking endlessly about their separate marital issues, about how fucked up Anna and Elsa both were, about the mountains they had left to climb- but it had been none of that. Elsa had not once even acknowledged anything regarding their current situation. Instead, the two sisters did something they had not done since before the accident as children. They just hung out. 

They talked about absolutely nothing of importance. For those short, glorious hours, Anna felt as though she had not a care in the world. The good it had done her was beyond description, to have that day to recharge, to try and reset her mental state- she wasn’t sure if she’d ever be able to properly thank Elsa. She’d seen what Kristoff, bless his heart, and even she herself had not- that what Anna needed was not support, or advice, but to be given an environment to be herself without needing to work for it, if only for a little while.

She looked up at Kristoff, and for the first time since they reunited, she felt the surge of happiness and love that she wanted to have every time she saw him. The feeling spread through her like a wave, a tingly feeling of joy that spread from her heart to the tips of her fingers and toes. But then a thought floated up from the back of her mind. It whispered,  _ “This is just to make you easier to tear down, this won’t last, you won’t be happy for long.” _ She tried to push it back down, and succeeded for the most part, but it had still cast a shadow over her mind. She nestled into Kristoff’s side even more, trying to recapture the joy from just moments ago, but it had slipped away. She sighed. Though the previous day had been just shy of magical, it seemed that her recovery was not yet finished. When was her mind going to stop being such a jerk?

She examined the sides of the tent, and guessed that it was a few minutes to dawn. She thought about going back to sleep, but decided that she should get up and moving to try to keep those dark, intrusive thoughts at bay. She kissed Kristoff’s cheek and slipped out of bed, giving him a sad smile as she saw him reach for her in his sleep, frowning when he didn’t find her, before rolling over and sleeping on. She dressed in her normal traveling clothes and left the tent. She walked a few feet, then stretched, enjoying the cool morning air on her skin, the way the dew on the grass caught the rising sun and set the field aflame.

“Good morning, Your Highness.” Anna let out a squeak of fright and jumped, turning around to see Ciri, already dressed for the day, looking apologetic. “My apologies, Your Highness,” she said, casting her eyes downward. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s okay, Ciri,” Anna said, her hand over her heart, which was currently trying to escape her chest via ribcage. “But stop calling me ‘Your Highness’.”

“Oh, right. Sorry. It’s a hard habit to break.”

“It’s okay, I’m sure it is,” Anna said, taking a breath as her heart returned to its normal rhythm. “What are you doing up so early?” The pair of them ambled over to the remnants of the previous night’s fire.

“Couldn’t sleep.”

“What’s on your mind?” Anna asked, plopping down on the grass and indicating Ciri to join her, which she did, so they sat side by side against a log.

“I don’t want to trouble you,” Ciri said after a brief hesitation, not meeting Anna’s eyes.

“Ciri, the amount of trouble we’ve caused you is a thousand times more than any trouble you could possibly cause by sharing your thoughts, which I asked you about, if I might add.”

“It’s… complicated.”

“I’m a good listener. Unless you’d rather not tell me,” she added after a moment, not wanting to pressure her.

Ciri gave Anna a small smile and shook her head. “ It’s not that. I guess…” she sighed. She started and stopped several times, then said, “I think it’s that, believe it or not, the past month or so has been the best time since my father died.” She looked up as though she expected Anna to disagree or try to argue, but Anna just looked at her, waiting for Ciri to continue. “I’ve been alone for... a while, so this has felt… Sort of like I had a family again. And… no, it’s stupid.”

“Please, Ciri. I promise I won’t laugh.”

“It’s just... the way Elsa talks to me… It’s like the way I imagine my mother would have.”

“Oh,” Anna said, frowning. Elsa did have a habit of being too fussy sometimes. “I’m sure she doesn’t mean to, I can talk to her if you want?”

Ciri shook her head. “No, it’s not like that. I don’t feel like she’s talking down to me or anything. It’s… it’s just…” She sighed, wrestling with how to word her thoughts, settling on the simple: “It’s nice.”

Anna blinked, then nodded. “I understand,” she said. “Better than you know. But… sorry, but what does that have to do with you not sleeping?”

“... I’m afraid. We’re getting there today, and I’m afraid of what might happen.”

“We won’t let anything happen to you, Ciri,” Anna said, nudging her. “I promise.”

“I’m not worried for myself. I’m worried about all of you.”

Anna mentally smacked herself in the forehead. Of course Ciri wouldn’t be concerned for herself. She really was a lot like Elsa. “I should have known,” Anna said, smiling, but the smile faded within seconds. “But that’s part of why we’re fighting. So that we don’t have to have young girls like you losing sleep because she’s afraid she’s going to lose her new family.”

“I suppose.” Ciri still looked downcast. Anna put her arm around her and pulled her in, and Ciri relaxed into the embrace, putting her own arm around Anna, then inspiration struck.

“Hey, I have something that might cheer you up.”

“Hmm?”

“It’s a story Elsa told me yesterday to cheer  _ me _ up, about Heins, and a huge batch of noodles…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Elsa's done a lot of bad shit to Anna, some of it her fault, some of it not. But she's still Anna's sister, and understands her better than anyone else, which is what I tried to show. Anna just needed some hangout time with her sister.
> 
> And yes, it's a Noodle Incident. Thank you, Mr. Watterson.


	35. Hunting the Spirits: Elsa - Weselton Preparations

Elsa woke up to a wonderful sound. It was the sound of Ciri and Anna’s mingled laughter. She lay there on her back, eyes closed, a gentle smile on her lips, listening to the pair of them, joy in her heart. A sound she never knew she wanted and a sound she thought she may never hear again, mixed together. She had a feeling she might know what was causing the gale of laughter from Ciri. She felt Heins stir beside her, and knew he had woken up.

“Good morning,” she said, giving him her sweetest smile and a kiss on the cheek.

“Yeah,” he grumbled, his tone showing he was still upset with her. Another peal of laughter split the air. “What are they laughing about?” Elsa smiled at him, tilting her head down and her eyes up, trying to look as innocent and cute as possible. “Oh no…” Heins sprang out of bed, threw on some clothes, and hurried out of the tent. As soon as he left, Ciri’s laughter redoubled.

“Dammit Anna, what did you tell her?”

“Nothing!” Anna squealed between gasps, out of breath from laughter.

“Ciri, whatever she told you is a lie! I had absolutely nothing to do with that!”

Elsa got out of bed as Heins’s protests mixed, then were drowned out by, the shrieks of laughter. She got out of bed and pulled some clothes on, then left the tent to see the rest of the camp beginning to rise as well. She saw Baldur and Leila coming out of their tent, looking around confused, Kristoff leaving his own with a yawn, Elsie walking towards them, rubbing her eyes, and through it all, Anna and Ciri kept laughing while Heins insisted it was all a misunderstanding. 

Elsa decided she’d better rescue him. “Okay, okay, calm down everyone,” she called, walking to the center of the camp with her hands held up. “We have work to do.”

“Thank you, Elsa,” Heins said, sounding exasperated.

“Questions about the Noodle Incident can be held until after we-”

“NO!”

* * *

The city of Weselton came into view later that morning. The city was a great deal smaller than Arendelle or Corona, but it still boasted a respectable amount of narrow streets and alleys that would let them move around undetected if they were careful. Getting in and out would be much simpler than in the aforementioned cities as well, as Weselton had no external wall, just occasional guard posts around the outside. According to one of Kristoff’s sources within the city, they could establish a base in an old warehouse he owned near the edge of town. 

At first, Elsa was nervous about being within the city, but as Kristoff pointed out, being hidden in a secure location was safer than staying in camps that could be found by anyone who happened to pass by. Besides, the Empire would have little to no reason to believe they would be in the city anyway. She had no rebuttal for this, so over the course of the next few hours, watched over by Gareth to make sure there were no Empire soldiers nearby, the group made their way to the warehouse in twos and threes. The Queensguard spread out to the various doors and windows to keep watch on the streets outside, leaving Elsa, Heins, Anna, and Kristoff to plan. Elsie and Ciri were going through the contents of the warehouse, gathering the food Kristoff’s contact had stashed there in advance. 

The four of them stood around a table with a map of Weselton spread out on its surface, with various landmarks and points of interest marked in an untidy scrawl. The city was quite old, and had grown like a weed, with no purpose or planning in its design, so it had become a roughly circular shape, spreading out from the small castle in the center of the city. The warehouse was situated on the outermost portion of the northeast section.

“So what do we know about the target? Arne, I think you said, right?” Elsa asked.

Kristoff nodded. “According to my contact, the target’s house is here.” He indicated a small clump of buildings built against the castle’s southern outer wall.

“Way too close to the castle,” Anna said. “Where does he work?”

“ _In_ the castle,” Kristoff said.

“Shit,” Anna muttered. “Okay, so what? We wait for him to travel out of town or something?”

“He’s not the traveling kind, apparently,” Kristoff said. “He’s not left the city in months. I think Hans knows what he has, and he’s not eager to give him up.”

“Explains why he’s so close to the castle,” Heins said. “I wonder why they don’t just have him live there?”

“Not much room in that castle,” Elsa pointed out. “It’s a quarter the size of Arendelle’s.” She looked at Heins. “Which one lives here again?” 

“That dumb bastard Hubert,” Heins spat. “Wish we could take care of him while we’re here.” Everyone turned to him. “What?”

“That’s... not actually that bad an idea,” Kristoff said, running a hand over his beard. “Hans has this guy, and he’s apparently using him for something. If we try to get out with him, we’ll have every guard in the city on our backs. But if we can cause a big enough distraction- killing the governor, for example- we can divide their attention and make it so they don’t know what the hell to do before we’re already gone. The chaos will keep them from being able to organize, and if we kill Hubert, there’s going to be confusion about whose orders to follow.”

“And in that confusion,” Anna began.

“We could grab Arne,” Elsa finished. They locked eyes, and without speaking, both knew what the other was thinking. “I could get you up there, easy.”

“You sure? Where would I land?”

“If I arc you right-”

“Hang on,” Kristoff interrupted, looking between them. “I know you’re not talking about ice-jumping Anna on top of the wall, right? It’s twenty feet high!”

“Of course not, don’t be stupid,” Anna said, and Kristoff had just enough time to look releived before she finished, “It wouldn’t be just me, I’d take some of you with me.”

“While I take the rest and grab the target,” Elsa added. “He won’t get far with his legs encased in ice.”

“Hang on, this is insane,” Heins protested. “We can’t just break into the castle and kill the governor!”

Anna grinned, a fierce glint in her eye. “Wanna bet?”

* * *

With the basic plan set, the Queensguard set about preparing for their mission. Elsie and Ciri proved their worth many times over in the next few days. Both of them were unremarkable, even more so than the other members of the Queensguard, who had caused enough trouble with Heins over the past two years that wanted posters for them hung on street corners across the whole of the Empire. They would slip out with the morning crowds, returning later in the evening, gathering as much information as they could. They would visit Kristoff’s contacts, memorize guard numbers and locations of guard houses, track guard patrols, and try to learn both Hubert and Arne’s schedules. 

Arne, who turned out to be a weaselly looking man in his fifties, shorter even than Ciri, with thick glasses and a thin mustache, was meticulous about his routine. He left his house each morning at 7:30 sharp. He walked to the castle gates, arriving by 7:35. From there, he stayed within the castle, reappearing at the gates at 6:05. He was home by 6:10. He never strayed from his path, he never left his house once he had arrived there. He was never accompanied by fewer than six guards.

Hubert, on the other hand, was as unpredictable as he was cruel. Some days he never ventured beyond the castle, other days he would wander around the town drunk, accompanied by a cadre of guards. The guards were ostensibly for Hubert’s protection, but in reality, they were no more than a pack of thugs who mostly just held husbands back while Hubert groped their wives. On more than one occasion, Elsie or Ciri would return to the warehouse shaking with rage and with tears in their eyes. At those times, they would often refuse to share specifics about what they had seen.

One day, Ciri, distracted with counting guards at a post, had not noticed his approach in time. He had already started making his way towards her by the time she saw him, a greedy and malicious grin on his face. This was told to Elsa by Elsie, who held a trembling Ciri close, explaining how she had intervened, drawing Hubert’s attention to her instead while Ciri fled, then slipping away through an alley before he could reach her. The thought of Elsie going through that was painful enough, but when Elsa pictured Ciri being violated by that monster, her vision went red. She very nearly stormed out of the warehouse to go kill Hubert herself, right then, and both Heins and Kristoff had to hold her back to keep her from leaving. Elsa ordered that neither Elsie nor Ciri were to leave the warehouse again, and while Ciri in particular took the next day off in grateful relief, by the day after that, both were begging Elsa to go out again to continue helping, which she reluctantly allowed after admonishing both to be more careful.

The rest of the Queensguard had plenty to do as well. They had been carrying out operations like this under Heins’s direction for years now. Their expertise shone through as they scoured the map of the city, mapping out escape routes and potential ambush spots by day, then spending their nights moving about the city undetected, breaking a lock here, setting up a trap there. Silas broke into the church one night and unlatched a window on the second floor of the bell tower, so that he could climb to the top before the attack to provide support with his bow. The rest of the time, they were making the equipment they would need for their plan, including a simple grappling hook of Kristoff’s design, and a rather ingenious invention of Baldur’s that produced explosive results. 

The teams for each part of the mission were picked next. As Elsa was required to remain outside the walls and to capture Arne, she and Anna were the only ones with natural roles. Both Heins and Kristoff wanted to stay with their wives, but Heins was adamant that he be part of the team to kill his brother. According to Heins, they could draw his brother out to fight if Heins was there, so they decided to swap. Kristoff would come with Elsa to capture Arne, while Heins would accompany Anna into the castle to kill Hubert. Alan stuck with Kristoff on Elsa’s team, and Cari went with Anna’s. Baldur and Leila would go with Anna, as her team was likely to face more opposition than Elsa’s. Silas would provide overwatch and arrow support from the bell tower of the church, which overlooked both the entrance to the castle walls and Arne’s house. Elsie and Ciri would be stationed at two of the escape routes with plenty of Baldur’s invention, ready to help cover the escape of whichever team might come their way. Gareth would be high in the air as an owl. If he noticed anything that would compromise the mission, he would fly down to join Silas and ring the church bells, which would be their signal to abort the mission. If something went wrong after the mission had begun, Silas would fire a flaming arrow to signal that one of the teams needed assistance.

Then, two weeks after arriving in Weselton, the day of the attack had come. Anna was bouncing on the balls of her feet, her face full of grim determination. Heins sat cross-legged on the floor, his eyes shut, breathing deep, slow breaths. Kristoff stood next to his wife, rolling his shoulders and stretching. Elsa paced back and forth, clenching and unclenching her fists.

“It’s time,” Silas said from his perch near the roof, peering out of a window at the dark sky. It was just past midnight. He jumped down and looked around at all of them. “Good luck.” He slipped out of the door without another word.

There was a flurry of activity as Silas left. Everyone wore their light armor and weapons underneath coats and cloaks. Elsa strapped on her bracers as Ciri and Elsie approached her.

“Good luck,” Elsie said, curtseying.

“Good luck,” said Ciri. She stood there for a moment, then darted forward and wrapped her arms around Elsa. “Stay safe. Please.”

Elsa hugged her back. “You too,” she whispered in her ear. Ciri stepped back, her face set. “Good luck to you both,” Elsa said. “See you soon.” The pair nodded and followed Silas into the night. 

“See you all at the wall,” Elsa said to the rest of the group, as they lined up near the door. They would all be taking different routes to the rendezvous, to prevent drawing undue attention before the time was right. Baldur and Leila left next, followed soon after by Alan and Cari, then Anna and Kristoff. Elsa and Heins left last, meandering through the streets arm in arm, appearing for all intents and purposes a couple out for a nighttime stroll. The streets were sparsely populated, but not empty. Elsa felt her heart pounding in her chest as she tried to walk casually, but as she focused on walking casually, it felt like she forgot how to walk.

“Relax, honey,” Heins said after a few minutes. “Think about something else.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know, anything.”

“How about noodles?” she asked, grinning at him.

“Ugh… for the last time, it wasn’t what it looked like.”

“Suuuure,” Elsa teased. “You really should be proud, I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

Heins gave her a playful poke in the ribs. “I would be proud, if I was involved, but I wasn’t. Still can’t believe you told A-” He stopped himself just in time. They had already decided not to use each other’s names just yet, in case a curious citizen was listening in, and the bounty on their heads would test even the most staunch supporter of the kingdoms’ restoration. “Your sister.”

“It certainly cheered her up.”

“I suppose, but wasn’t there _anything_ else you could tell her?”

“What else takes your mind off something like that?”

“Nothing. We’re here.” They had just turned into the deserted alley where they were to meet the rest of the Queensguard. It was an ideal spot, the mouth of one end ending ten feet before the wall on the exact opposite side of the main gate, and the other end leading back towards Arne’s house.

Elsa blinked. She almost hadn’t noticed. “Well done, Heins.” He inclined his head. Elsa peered up at the bell tower. She could see a faint figure there, his right arm held up at an angle.

“We’re on,” she whispered, and the rest of the Queensguard seemed to materialize out of thin air in the alley. They had gotten very good at remaining unseen over the past few years. Anna and Kristoff crept over to them. Elsa and Anna both hesitated, unsure of what to do, then they reached out at the same time, each pulling the other into an embrace. “I love you, sis. Stay safe.”

“I love you too. Stay safe.” They broke apart, and Heins moved next to Anna, and Kristoff moved next to Elsa. The four of them looked at each other.

“Watch each other out there,” Kristoff said. “You’re more important than the mission. We all are. Don’t be afraid to abort. We can’t help anyone if we’re all dead.”

“Agreed,” Heins said. “Take care of each other,” he said to Elsa and Kristoff.

“You guys too,” Elsa said. “Alright, line up.” Anna, Heins, Cari, Leila, and Baldur arranged themselves in a straight line, facing the castle’s outer wall. Elsa got in front of them, knelt down, and pointed at each in turn. Each one answered with a sharp, determined nod. “Okay. Good luck.” Elsa put one hand on the ground, then raised three fingers on the other. She put one down, one more, and… now!

She thrust a pillar of ice underneath each of them. They extended their legs at the same time, sending themselves soaring into the air towards the wall. Elsa dissipated the pillars with a wave of her hand as they reached the zenith of their arcs at the very top of the wall, landing almost noiselessly on the narrow battlements. Elsa waited with bated breath for the all clear signal.

“There it is!” she whispered, as she saw Anna wave once from the top of the wall. “Let’s go.” Elsa led the way back along the alley, towards Arne’s house, with Kristoff and Alan following close behind.


	36. Hunting the Spirits: Anna - One Down

Anna and her team landed very well on top of the ramparts. The practice with Elsa had paid off, their intrusion had been almost silent. She gave Elsa the all clear, then turned back towards the castle. She scanned the bailey for any guards, and was heartened to see that their intelligence gathering had paid off. The guards on this particular shift were notorious for shirking their duties in favor of playing cards in the guardhouse near the castle gate. If all went well, they would never have to deal with them. The problematic guards were in two turrets at the corners of the outer wall, on either side of where they had landed. Anna signaled for the next stage of the plan to begin.

Leila and Cari broke off from the rest of the group to handle the guards in the turrets, keeping low to stay in the shadows cast by the battlements. Anna and the rest of her team pulled the grappling hooks out and affixed them to the wall. By the time they were done, Cari and Leila both came back, fresh blood staining their weapons.

“Clear,” Leila whispered.

“Clear,” Cari repeated.

Anna nodded and pulled on her gloves. “Let’s go.” Rather than trying to rappel or rig up any type of harness, the team had opted to wear thick leather gloves that would protect their hands as they slid down the ropes, and they did the trick. In seconds, the team was at the bottom of the wall, weapons drawn. There was another thirty feet or so before the castle itself. They crept up to it, then huddled against it as they circled around to the front of the castle. Their luck held, and as the guardhouse came into view, Anna could see the six men inside, who should have been patrolling the ramparts and bailey. It was a mistake they would pay for with their lives. Anna took a deep breath and concentrated. This was it. 

The guardhouse was only about fifty feet away, but the farther away she was, the harder it was for her to manipulate the flames in her mind. She felt the tendrils of her power creeping out of her, leaving nothing more than a wisp of smoke barely visible against the night sky, as it wound its way towards the guardhouse. Once she had reached it, she commanded the flame to grow, as fast and as explosively as she could, which, given all the practice she had gotten under Elsa’s more experienced tutelage, was considerable. The guardhouse erupted in a burst of fire and smoke. She could hear nothing but startled cries from those within before the heat or the collapsing stone snuffed out their lives. The sound of the devastation rolled outward like thunder, surely waking everyone in the city, who, confused and frightened, were sure to take to the streets to flee or fight, providing plenty of cover for her sister. But Anna had her own mission to worry about.

She and her team burst around the corner of the castle at a dead sprint, heading for the front doors. They had been expecting them to be unbarred, and they were not disappointed. Hubert’s erratic schedule, unpredictable nature, and general arrogance had seen to that. They could see guards running out of the other two turrets on the opposite corners, their bows at the ready, but before they could do any more, they fell with feathered arrows protruding from their chests. Anna swore to herself to thank Silas when this was done. 

Anna and her team slammed the front doors open and leapt into the entrance hall, cutting down the two disoriented guards there in seconds. This would be the hard part. None of them had ever been to Weselton’s castle before, and despite all their attempts, they had been unable to get anyone inside, nor had they managed to track down the plans for the building. They would have to hope for the best, trusting the fact that it was a small castle to help them find Hubert.

“HUBERT!” Heins roared. “YOU TRAITOROUS BASTARD, GET OUT HERE AND FACE ME!”

To their front was a staircase, leading up to what looked like the throne room. The right and left each had a single door that both seemed equally likely. Anna picked right on a gut feeling. “This way!” she shouted, running towards the door. As it turned out, her gut was wrong, but maybe it had been for the best.

Just before Anna reached the door on her right, the other door burst open. “Attacking a man in the night?” a voice shouted from behind them. “What has become of you, dear brother?” They spun around to see a man, larger than Kristoff, larger even than Liam had been. He carried an enormous morningstar that he gripped with both hands. A dozen more guards streamed into the entrance hall from behind him.

Anna sized up the situation in seconds. Hubert was big, and could definitely do some damage, but he was unarmored, which actually made her more nervous. He had to know that at least one of their group could do magic based on what happened to the guardhouse, and yet he still chose to face them. First, though, she could get rid of the guards. She raised her hand to summon her flames, but before she could release them, she realized she had just made a mistake. 

“That one!” Hubert yelled, jumping forward and crossing the distance between them within the space of a heartbeat, the guards following close behind. Anna felt the magic slip away as she dove aside, the morningstar slamming into the ground where she had been with enough force to crack the stone.

“Into the courtyard!” Anna screamed, rolling to her feet and throwing a wild wall of fire towards the guards. It was small and unfocused, but it bought them just enough time to get out of the entrance hall. It was their only chance. Inside, with nowhere to run, they’d be slaughtered. Out here, they could move around more freely, able to retreat and keep the guards from surrounding them. Her team burst through the doors and spilled out onto the grass, Hubert and the guards hot on their heels. “You three, keep them off of us! We’ll handle Hubert!” She heard shouted acknowledgements as Baldur, Leila, and Cari rushed forward, swinging their blades as hard as they could, pushing the guards back with their ferocity, away from Hubert. More arrows sang through the air from the bell tower, not many finding their targets, but keeping the guards from becoming too aggressive and swarming the three. Anna saw two more guards killed out of the corner of her eye.

Anna and Heins faced Hubert, side by side. She had only a moment to prepare when Hubert bounded forward again, moving much faster than it would seem possible given his size, swinging his morningstar across his body. Anna tried to riposte his blow, but found her blade knocked aside like it was no more than a twig, the point of one of the spikes scoring across the front of her leather chestplate.  _ He’s so strong! _ Anna leapt out of his reach to avoid his followup swipe, having already given up anything but dodging as a defense.

Heins leapt in front of Anna and caught the next swing, pivoting with the blow, but still barely able to keep his blade aloft as the morningstar swept along its length. “Burn the fucker!” Heins shouted, driving forward to keep Hubert on the defensive. Anna threw a fireball at Hubert, but it splashed around him without so much as singing him.

“That won’t work on me, bitch,” Hubert spat as he knocked aside another of Heins’s blows. 

“What makes you think she needs the magic?” Heins taunted, spinning around Hubert’s wild counterattack. “You always were arrogant, brother.” He stabbed forward again as Anna ran up and added her blade to Heins’s. Hubert’s face went from vain indifference to an angry snarl as he was driven back by their relentless assault. Anna and Heins had fought together enough in the past that their blades moved as though they were both wielded by the same being, using the two of them as puppets. Their swords sang through the air as they flashed in a deadly ballet, always moving forward. Hubert’s blocks and ripostes got slower and slower, until eventually, Anna was able to sneak under his guard and score a hit along his left thigh. It was not a deep cut, but Hubert’s face contorted with pain. Anna and Heins redoubled their assault, and Hubert’s eyes flooded with fear. His swings became wilder and more erratic.

One reckless swing later, Anna knew it was over. She jumped to the side, letting the morningstar hit the ground, then she stomped on the handle, near his hand, wrenching it out of his grip. Heins drove forward, his teeth bared in a triumphant snarl, and ran his brother through the chest. Hubert’s face went slack, and his eyes unfocused. Heins ripped the blade out, sending flecks of blood spattering across the grass. “That’s for our family you murdered, you bastard,” Heins snarled, his eyes full of hatred as the last of the light left Hubert’s and he toppled backwards.

Anna spun around, and used her fire to separate the remaining combatants in the courtyard. Leila, Baldur, and Cari staggered backwards to avoid the erupting flames, leaving behind another five corpses. “Time to go!” Anna screamed, running towards the outer gate. The surviving guards recovered within seconds and sprinted after them. More guards were blocking the gate now, but Anna dispersed them with another hasty firewall, splitting them to either side of the gate, then dissipating the flames as they ran through. She could hear their pursuers following close behind as they dashed towards their planned escape route.  _ Could have gone better, could have gone worse, _ Anna thought as she sprinted through the streets. 


	37. Hunting the Spirits: Elsa - Extraction

Elsa, Kristoff, and Alan were crouched in a side street, two houses down from Arne’s house.

“Shouldn’t it have happened by now?” Elsa asked, chewing her lip. There was a pit of anxiety in her stomach, and she kept clenching and unclenching her fists. 

“Relax, Elsa,” Kristoff said, but he looked worried too. “I’m sure it’s fine.”

“I hope so. I-” Whatever Elsa had been about to say was lost as the sound of an explosion rippled through the town. They could hear panicked cries in the houses on either side of them, as the occupants were startled awake and dashed to the windows to see what had happened. Elsa, Kristoff, and Alan waited, Alan at the exit to the street, peering around the corner. People started flooding the streets, coming out in their bedclothes, looking disheveled, scared, and confused.

“Alright, the guards are coming out,” Alan reported in a low voice. “Two, four… just four. They’re heading for the gate. Two left.”

“Easy,” Kristoff said. “Let’s go-”

“No, not yet,” Alan cut across. “Wait for it… They’re still too close, they’d hear us. And…. now!” The three of them burst onto the main road at a run, heading for Arne’s house, drawing their weapons as they ran. No one paid them any mind, most people were too preoccupied with getting away from the now rising pillar of smoke near the castle. When they reached Arne’s house, they paused. Kristoff and Alan took up positions on either side of the door, and looked towards Elsa. She stood a few feet away, her hand held up, ready to fire. She nodded, and Alan and Kristoff locked eyes, then both kicked the door with all their might. The door flew off the hinges, slamming into the floor as the two remaining guards whipped their heads around, surprise on their faces. They died with those expressions intact, icicles buried in their hearts. Kristoff and Alan ran in, weapons held at the ready.

“Don’t resist,” Kristoff shouted as Elsa followed. Arne was cowering against the far wall, his hands over his head. 

“I surrender! Don’t kill me!” he said in a whiney, snivelly voice that irritated Elsa within a single word.

“Elsa, shut him up,” Alan said, and she obeyed gladly. With a swipe of her hand, an icy mask sealed over Arne’s mouth. It would hurt, but Elsa didn’t care much. Kristoff yanked Arne to his feet, then pulled his hands behind his back. With two more swipes, she fastened his hands and feet together, then Kristoff heaved him over his shoulder. 

“Let’s go!” The three of them ran out of the house, Arne’s face bouncing off Kristoff’s back. The plan seemed to be going without a hitch. Even now, no one in the street seemed to notice their presence, and there were no guards in sight. They ran down the street, passing several of their traps and barricades they had set up beforehand just in case, but it looked like they would make a clean getaway. Up ahead, they could see the rooftop where Ciri waited, and as they approached, they saw her head pop up, her arm drawn back with a small flame there.

Elsa held up her arms in an ‘X’, and Ciri nodded and put her arm down. She hopped down the boxes on the side of the building and followed them to the edge of town, where they had horses standing by. Kristoff threw Arne over one of them, then jumped in the saddle and took off towards the woods. Elsa, Alan, and Ciri were close behind. They arrived at the rendezvous point a half mile from the town less than ten minutes after the explosion.

“Well that couldn’t have gone better,” Alan said, climbing down from his horse. “Ciri, did you see the-” he cut off mid-sentence, as they all stared in horror at the flaming arrow, arcing through the sky from the bell tower.

“Anna!” Elsa cried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You had to know the mission couldn't go THAT smoothly, right?


	38. Hunting the Spirits: Anna - Cornered

_We’re dead_ , Anna thought. The guard response had been swifter and fiercer than any of them had anticipated. While some of their traps slowed their pursuers, their actual escape routes were cut off by the advancing guards, converging on her and her team from guard posts all over the city. They hadn’t managed to make it to Elsie, who could have given them additional cover. They were out of range of Silas’s bow. Worst of all, Anna had led her team into a dead end alley. She was able to conjure a fierce inferno at the mouth of the alley, which was keeping the enemy at bay for now, but she could feel her strength flagging. Unlike Elsa, who could create her constructs and then leave them be, it took constant concentration and energy to keep her own magic going. They had been chased around half the city by this point, and her team was hardly able to stand from exhaustion. 

“I’m sorry, everyone,” Anna said, tears stinging her eyes. “This is my fault. I failed.”

“It’s not over yet,” Baldur insisted, despite the fact that he was doubled over, his face red and shiny. “We can still…” He faded away, and Anna knew it was because he couldn’t think of any out. The walls behind them were too tall to climb. There were no windows on this side of the buildings. 

“I can’t hold this much longer,” Anna gasped, her face contorted with the effort of keeping the magic going.

“Then drop it,” Heins said, straightening up and drawing his blade. “It’s a narrow alley. They can’t get that many in here. We’ll take as many of the bastards as we can with us.” His face was set and determined. Anna saw Baldur and Leila clasp hands, then they too drew their swords, then Cari.

“We’re ready, Anna,” she said. 

Anna closed her eyes. A vision of Elsa and Kristoff swam to the front of her mind. _I’m sorry_. “I love you all,” she said, and dropped the magic. She drew her blade, trying not to panic as the guards rushed into the alley. Heins stepped forward, and, gripping his sword with both hands, swung with all of his strength, then dropped his blade in shock as it collided, not with the steel of the guard’s shields, but with a solid wall of ice. 

“Now!” 

Anna whipped her head up to see Elsa standing on the rooftop above her, flanked by Elsie and Alan, who both held half a dozen of Baldur’s inventions, already lit. Anna grinned, and the pair started throwing them down at the guards.

They really were an ingenious idea. Anna was a little ashamed that she was surprised Baldur had come up with them. In the warehouse, they had come across a barrel of very strong rum. At first, they wrote it off as useless to their needs (other than the thing it was meant for, which they may have taken advantage of once or twice). Then one day, as she practiced, Anna’s flames got too close to the barrel, and it ignited a small puddle on the ground from where they had poured themselves drinks the night before, burning intensely for a few moments before the alcohol burned off and it went out. This gave Baldur an idea. He filled glass bottles with the rum about halfway, then soaked rags in the rum and stuffed them down the neck. He forced the stopper in to hold the rag in place. If you lit the rag on fire, then threw the bottle, the rum would splash over anything nearby, and the burning rag would cause the rum to burst into liquid flames. Unfortunately for all of them, however, Baldur then decided to test it, without telling anyone. On the bright side, the invention worked marvellously. On the other hand, the flames were quite a lot faster spreading than Baldur had anticipated, and it was only through Elsa’s quick ice work that the warehouse didn’t burn down. After a verbal thrashing from everyone in the building, Baldur had apologized, but pointed out that it proved the effectiveness.

The effectiveness was now on full display. The burning rum coated the guards’ clothing and skin, and because it was burning the alcohol, they were unable to put it out, as it had no fuel source they could cut off. Elsie and Alan were raining the weapons down on the guards, and the screams of burning men filled the night air.

“Up here!” 

“Kristoff!” Anna cried. Kristoff was laying on his stomach on the rooftop, his arm stretched down. “Everyone, go! Now!” Leila went first, taking a running leap up the wall, her hands searching for his. Kristoff seized her wrists and pulled. She ran up the wall and disappeared onto the roof. Baldur was next, a little less gracefully, then Cari.

“Anna, go!” Heins shouted.

“But-”

“NOW!” Anna went. She got to the roof to see Baldur, Leila, and Cari already running towards the outskirts of the city, leaping from roof to roof. Anna turned around to see Heins already clambering up behind her.

“Okay, go!” Elsa shouted.

“Wait, what about Silas?” Anna demanded.

Elsa looked up at the bell tower. “I don’t see him, we have to go, he’ll be okay. Let’s go!” Elsa, Kristoff, Alan, and Elsie ran after the others, and after another moment’s hesitation, Anna did too. As she ran, Anna could see Elsa flinging her hands out every couple of seconds, creating barriers all throughout the town. It would take hours for the guards to chip through, and by the time they found a way around, they would be long gone. They reached the escape route where Elsie had been stationed, and found Ciri and the rest of the horses waiting for them. There weren’t enough for everyone, so Anna doubled up with Kristoff, and Leila rode behind Baldur. Though Anna was already exhausted in both body and mind, she still noticed an irregularity. By what looked like wordless agreement, Elsa did not ride with Heins. Elsie rode behind Heins, and Elsa had Ciri behind her. _She really cares for that girl,_ Anna thought.


	39. Hunting the Spirits: Heins - Unmasked

The Queensguard only stopped at the rendezvous for a moment, to pick up their prize, then spent the rest of that night and the next day putting as much distance between them and Weselton as they could. Silas rejoined them around noon. Gareth had helped guide him out of the city, using Elsa’s barricades to maneuver around the scrambling guards. Once outside the city, he’d stolen a horse, and Gareth led him straight to the rest of the company. Arne’s icy shackles had been replaced with metal ones, and his mouth was gagged. To make their travel easier, they had given him his own horse, so that no one had to deal with him slung over theirs.

“Oh, and if you think about making a break for it…” Kristoff had said. Anna bounced a fireball between her hands, Elsa made razor-sharp icicles dance above her palm, Silas twanged his bowstring. Arne, eyes wide, nodded and said nothing. “Good.”

They traveled like this all day, stopping only to relieve themselves. More than once, Heins felt like he was being watched, but when he mentioned this to Elsa, she had Gareth search the area by air, and there was no Empire anywhere nearby. They ate prepared food in the saddle or on the march. By the time they stopped for the night, they were almost forty miles outside Weselton, and at the end of their tether. They threw together a slipshod camp, tied Arne to a tree (twice, just in case), and Heins was out before his head hit the pillow.

When he woke the next morning, it was the first time the enormity of what he had done struck him. He had killed his own brother. He rolled over and vomited off the side of the mattress. 

“Heins?” Elsa said, sitting up at once, alarmed. He felt her hand on his back. “Heins? What is it? Are you okay?”

“He- he was my younger brother,” Heins gasped. His stomach was churning, and his whole body felt numb. “I-I held him when he was born… But I- I-” He couldn’t continue. He felt Elsa rise, heard her move across the tent, heard her rummaging in a bag. She came back with a waterskin. She poured some of it on the puddle of sick, diluting it into the dirt.

“Here,” she said. “Rinse your mouth out. It’ll help you feel better.” Heins sat up and did what she asked, spitting the water onto the ground next to where he had thrown up. Elsa took the waterskin back, closed it, and tossed it aside. She moved around behind him, so that he was leaning against her, and wrapped her arms around him, nuzzling her face into his neck. He could feel her pressing into his back, trying to get as much of herself as close to him as she could, and it did make him feel a little better. She had not said anything to comfort him, or tried to convince him he shouldn’t feel bad, or anything like that. She was just there, a pillar he could lean on to catch his breath. He thought he had never loved her more than in that moment.

A few minutes passed before Heins’s stomach stopped rolling, and he no longer felt he was going to be sick. “Thank you, Elsa,” he whispered.

“You’re welcome.” She kissed his neck. “If you want to talk… I’m here.” She kissed his cheek this time, then leaned back and stood up. She looked down at him, not pitying, empathizing. “Are you okay?” He nodded. “Okay. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Join us when you’re ready. I have a little something to discuss with our guest.” Heins nodded again and she left the tent. He didn’t understand what he had ever done to deserve someone like her. He rubbed his hands over his face. _Hubert chose his own path._ Heins stood up. _There’s nothing else you could have done_. He got dressed. _He helped to kill mom and dad._ He stepped outside the tent.

Most of the Queensguard was a short distance away, gathered in a rough circle, eating breakfast. Anna, Kristoff, and Elsa sat around Arne, who sat on the ground, his hands and feet still bound, but with no gag. He looked terrified.

“... going to hurt you,” Heins heard Kristoff say, as he walked up behind him. “We just need your help translating something for us.”

“You killed my guards and kidnapped me in the middle of the night so that I would _translate_ something for you?” His voice reminded Heins of a goat bleating.

“Yeah, actually,” Elsa said. “You can read the language of the Ancients, right?” Arne stared at her, but didn’t answer. “Am I wrong?” Silence. Elsa stood up and moved towards Arne, saying, “Oh well, I guess there’s no use keeping you alive-”

“Yes I can read it!” Arne said, his eyes widening in panic. “Don’t kill me!”

“Calm down,” Elsa said. “It’s pretty obvious to us all that you’re not exactly made out of very stern stuff, so what’s say we cut to the end where you translate this book and then we don’t have to hear you whining anymore?” It seems Elsa shared Heins’s immediate and powerful distaste for the weaselly man in front of them.

“They’ll- they’ll kill me,” he moaned.

“Son of a bitch, _we’ll_ kill you if you don’t-” Kristoff said, firing up. Anna put a calming hand on his shoulder.

“Forgive my husband,” Anna said diplomatically, and Heins couldn’t help but be disappointed. “What he meant to say, was that if you don’t translate this book for us, we will cause a demise so slow and painful your ancestors will regret reproducing because at the end of their legacy is _you_.” Heins’s disappointment turned to admiration and pride. 

“Okay, okay,” Arne capitulated. “What do you want me to translate?”

“This,” Anna said, pulling out the book and letting it fall open. “We need you to-”

“Where did you find this?” Arne asked. His voice was different, and Heins looked at him in surprise to find that everything about him had changed. It was as though he was an entirely different person. His posture, expression, and tone had shifted. Gone was the weaselly coward. The new Arne carried himself with more pride and dignity, and he spoke with none of the whine that had gotten under Heins’s skin so quickly.

The four of them exchanged a confused glance. “Why does it matter?” Anna asked, narrowing her eyes at Arne.

“Because I wrote it.”

“Liar,” Elsa said at once.

Arne fixed her with a level stare. Unlike before, this one had not a trace of panic. Instead, it was a cool gaze that left the impression that he, not Elsa or anyone else, was in control of the conversation. “Whether you believe me or not is irrelevant to the facts. I wrote that book. And I know who you are.”

“Everyone knows who we are,” Anna said. “Who doesn’t?”

“I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about Shiva.” His gaze shifted to Anna. “And, if I had to guess, Ifrit?” Heins’s blood chilled, and he could see that the others were speechless as well. “I’m sorry about earlier. I didn’t recognize you. I’ve played that part for a very long time. Annoying, isn’t it?” He grinned. “No one wants to be around the annoying one. Gave me plenty of time to work in peace.”

“Okay, hold on, back up,” Anna said. “What the hell is going on? You’re the one our father talked to?”

“My name is Ignis. It’s so good to see you again, Elsa. You were a lot shorter, the last time we met.”

“We’ve met before?” Elsa asked, her eyes narrowed with suspicion. Arne- no, Ignis- nodded.

“You were only a child. Do you remember a visit from a physician soon after the accident in which Princess Anna was injured?” Recognition dawned on Elsa’s face, and her mouth fell open. Ignis smiled. “Hello again, Elsa.” He held up his hands, which were still shackled together. “Do you mind? These are terribly uncomfortable.”


	40. Hunting the Spirits: Kristoff - Ignis

“So if you served our father, what the hell were you doing working with Hans?” Anna asked. Anna, Elsa, Heins, and Kristoff were sitting in a semicircle, with Ignis on the other side. Ignis was eating a bit of jerky from Kristoff’s pack.

Ignis swallowed, then said, “I wasn’t. Well, I was, but only enough so that he wouldn’t kill me. The ability to read Ancient is a rare skill. Who would he have check my work?” Ignis laughed. “I don’t think I’d given him a completely correct translation in two years.”

“Didn’t he ever have the Dreamwalker check your mind?” Kristoff asked. “It seems like that would have been the first thing he’d have done. I know I would have.”

“Maybe he wanted to,” Ignis said, shrugging. “But to my knowledge, no one knows where the Dreamwalker is.”

“What?” Elsa said.

“I’ve never seen him. Neither had anyone I’d ever spoken to. And trust me-” he hunched over and transformed back into Arne, nasally voice and all- “when this guy is asking you questions, you answer just to get him to shut up.” He laughed, Ignis again. “Hans might know where he is, but if he does, he never used him on me.”

“How would you know?” Kristoff asked, but Elsa answered.

“You can tell,” she said. “When he would influence my mind, I couldn’t tell _during_ , but I could always tell _after_.” 

Ignis nodded his agreement. “That’s what my research suggests as well.”

“Okay, add that to the list of things that don’t make sense,” Anna said. “More to the point, what did Hans have you translating?”

“An awful lot of nothing,” Ignis said, taking another bite of jerky. “He couldn’t know what it said until it was translated, so I translated a lot of fluff, and I mean _fluff_. We’re talking trade receipts, recipes, notes between star-crossed lovers- that sort of thing. What wasn’t fluff was usually something about the Spirits, and something they called the Source.”

“The Source?” Kristoff asked. “Source of what?”

“I don’t know for sure,” Ignis admitted with a slight grimace. “It’s not referenced often, and when it is, it’s only written as- the Source. But-”

“What about the Spirits?” Anna interrupted. “Did you translate anything about Earth and Air?”

Ignis grinned. “I did. Would you like to know where the Temples are?”

“You know where they are?” Anna burst out. “Uh, yeah!”

“The Earth Temple to Titan is in a forest in Arendelle, said to be the home of the trolls. The Air Temple to Valefor is in the Faroe Islands.” No one spoke, and Ignis looked at each of them in turn, looking confused. “Um... why do you all look so… dazed?”

“Anna,” Elsa said. “You said Fire was in Corona, right?” Anna nodded. “Ignis, where is the Ice Temple?”

“The North Mountain,” she and Ignis said at the same time.

“How did you-”

“Something is screwing with us,” Anna said, clenching her fists in anger. “We’re just pawns, aren’t we? AREN’T WE?” she shouted to no one. The other Queensguard looked toward them, curious looks on their faces.

“Your Highness, what-”

“Ignis, it’s time for you to listen,” Elsa said, leaning forward with a grim expression. And she told Ignis about the girl that had brought them all back together, about how she led Anna to the Fire Temple, about how she appeared to Elsa on the brink of death and gave her the strength to go on, about how she told Elsa to “unite the four”.

“That’s a remarkable tale,” Ignis said. “But what does that have to do with where the Temples are?”

“Because it’s us,” Anna said. “They’re all locations tied to us. Corona-” she pointed to herself- “is where I spent many months in my childhood after the accident. The North Mountain-” she pointed to Elsa- “is where she ran after her coronation, where she first embraced her power, and where she went when all seemed lost. The woods in Arendelle with the trolls-” she pointed to Kristoff- “is where he first saw us, when we were all children. He grew up in those woods. The Faroe Islands are in the Southern Isles-” she pointed to Heins- “and he’s a Prince of the Southern Isles.” She threw up her hands in frustration. “Whoever the girl is, she’s playing with us, and it’s really beginning to annoy me.” She looked around at them. “I mean, if this girl wants us to do something, why doesn’t she just say so?”

“And you have no knowledge of who the girl is?” Ignis asked.

“None,” Elsa sighed.

After a pause, Ignis said, “What you’ve described is unlike anything in the Ancient’s texts. I’m afraid I may not be of much assistance in that regard.” They lapsed into thoughtful silence, then Ignis said sadly, “I am sorry about what happened to your parents. If I hadn’t-”

“It was their choice,” Anna said firmly, then, more gently, “but we appreciate it nonetheless.”

“Yes, thank you,” Elsa said. “You never could have known what would happen.”

Ignis nodded, looking somber, then stood up, bowing. “Your Majesty, I am at your service, as I ever have been. I regret that I was unable to assist you before now, but I believe I can begin making that up, should you agree.”

Elsa cocked her head. “Go on.”

“Your Majesty, I ask your leave to return to my laboratory. There are many texts there I have yet to translate. I am no fighter. I would be of little use to you here. But if you give me leave to return, I may yet be of assistance.”

“What do you think you could find?” Anna asked, her tone one of simple curiosity.

“The Source,” he said, an air of awe and wonder to his voice. “The Source of what, exactly? I believe- and this is only a theory, mind you- that it may be magic. Not refined into the elements, but raw, untamed magic. The remnants of what was leftover after the Spirits formed? I believe it may be how people like your feathered friend acquire their powers, when the Source bleeds into our world. They will always be weaker than you two, because they do not possess a Spirit. But Hans’s power is equal to yours. It may even be greater. But he does not have a Spirit, I’d bet my life on it. His power is… different. He does not control an element as you two do, or as Titan or Valefor can. I believe he may have tapped the Source directly.”

“Do you have any evidence for this?” Elsa asked. Ignis shook his head.

“Regretfully, no. It is only speculation, but one I believe to be well founded. And now that I know better what I am looking for, I believe I can find the answer.”

“Hmm…” Elsa’s brow furrowed in thought. “What do you all think?” she asked the others.

“It makes enough sense to me,” Anna said. “The Ancients dealt with magic a lot, and they mention a Source. It makes at least some sense that it would be the Source of magic. And it would explain Hans.”

“I’m with Anna,” Kristoff said. “Ignis is right, he’d be useless in a fight.” Far from looking offended, Ignis nodded in agreement. “Best to let him do what he’s good at.”

“Whatever you think, Elsa,” Heins said. “I can’t think of a better use of him, and he seems willing.”

“Very willing, Your Majesty.”

“How would you communicate your findings with us?”

“Leave that to me and Gareth,” Kristoff said. “We’re good at getting messages places.”

“Okay, I think it’s settled. What do you need?”

“A horse, if I could be so bold, Your Majesty, and perhaps one or two of your Queensguard for the journey? I could have them return to you once I’m there, but I’m no good crossing country.”

“Leila, Baldur!” Elsa called, and they rushed to her side at once, poised for a fight, their hands on the hilts of their swords.

“Why isn’t he still shackled?” Baldur said, glaring at Ignis, who smiled back.

“He can tell you on the way. He’s to be trusted. You’re taking him on a little trip.” Kristoff couldn’t help but admire the way Baldur and Leila relaxed at Elsa’s words, their hands leaving their weapons. Their Queen trusted this person, and therefore, so did they, totally and completely. When he had first gathered them for the desperate rescue mission four years ago, he could never have anticipated how close their bonds would get.

“Where to?” Baldur asked, looking totally at ease now.

“He can tell you. Take two horses. Double up on the way, then you can each ride one back.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Not a shred of hesitation or doubt. They’d gotten lucky indeed with their companions. “How will we find you again?” 

“We make for Arendelle. The next Temple is there. When you leave Ignis, go five miles away, roughly towards Arendelle, and set a smoky fire. Gareth will find you.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Elsa turned away to walk towards the rest of the Queensguard, then hesitated and looked back. “I may send someone else with you,” she said, a hint of sadness to her voice, then continued towards the group.


	41. Hunting the Spirits: Elsa - Tough Choices

“Ciri? Can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Elsa!” Ciri yelped, jumping at the sound and stuffing something small she’d been fiddling with into her pocket. “Sorry about that… um… Sure, yeah.” Elsa led her out of earshot of the rest of the group, then, as briefly as she could, summed up who Ignis was, what he had learned, and where he was going.

“Wow,” Ciri said, looking stunned. “I can hardly believe-”

“And I want you to go with him.” Elsa tried not to let her misery show on her face as Ciri absorbed what she had just said, but it was time for her to put a stop to this. She had put Ciri in enough danger as it was.

“Wait… what? You want me to go with him?”

“Yes.”

Ciri frowned, looking confused. “Why? Did I upset you? I’m so sorry if I did, Elsa, I didn’t-”

“You didn’t upset me, Ciri.”

“Then what is it?”

“It’s not safe for you out here. You’ll be safer with him.”

“Oh… I don’t care about that, it’s fine.” She said this with a relieved smile, as though the matter was settled. Elsa shook her head, feeling her sadness weighing down in her stomach, and Ciri tilted hers, either not understanding or not wanting to understand.

“I’m afraid it isn’t, Ciri. I never should have gotten you involved this much. You could have been killed last night. I can’t let that happen.”

“It’s not going to!” Ciri protested.

“You can’t know that, Ciri,” Elsa sighed. “And neither can I. With Ignis, you’ll be safer.”

“You don’t know that! I don’t want to leave! Please, Your Majesty! _Please!_ ”

“That’s enough,” Elsa said. Her heart was breaking. Ciri had not addressed Elsa as “Your Majesty” for weeks, and hearing it now was like a knife in her chest. She had to do this. For Ciri’s sake. She never should have let her own emotions get in the way like this. “You need to go with him.”

“Please, Your Majesty, I don’t want to be alone again, I want to stay with you-” She reached for Elsa’s hand, as though to make sure she couldn’t be sent away, but Elsa pulled it back. Ciri’s eyes welled with tears, and she clasped her hands in front of her chest. It reminded Elsa very much of Anna, which did not help the turbulence in her heart.

“It’s for your own good,” Elsa said, and even to her own ears, the words rang false. 

“What did I do wrong?” Ciri asked, crying now. Elsa could feel some of the others’ eyes on her.

“Nothing, Ciri,” Elsa said quietly.

“Then why are you trying to get rid of me?” she sobbed, tears pouring down her face, which was contorted with anguish. “I don’t want to go, please don’t make me go, _please,_ I beg you, _please_ -”

“You’re not safe here, Ciri,” Elsa said, trying to sound firm and authoritative, but she could hear her voice shaking. “You’ll be safer with Ignis.”

“I don’t care if I’m safe! Nowhere will _feel_ safe unless I’m here with you! _Please_ , don’t send me away! I don’t have anyone else! I don’t want to be alone again!”

Elsa’s resolve was almost gone. She had to end this, now. “That’s _enough_ , Ciri! I’m not your mother!” Ciri reeled back like she’d been slapped, her heartbreak and hurt written plain on her face. Elsa plowed on, trying to keep her own emotions at bay. For Ciri. “I can’t keep babysitting a silly little girl who’s in over her head! You are going with Ignis!” Ciri let out a strangled sob and turned away, running into the woods.

“Elsa!” Anna shouted from somwhere behind her, and Elsa could hear her sister getting closer. “Elsa!” Anna shouted again, sliding to a stop next to Elsa. “Why’d Ciri run off? What happened?!”

“I’m protecting her.”

“What?” Anna looked between Elsa and the spot where Ciri had fled, then recognition flashed on her face and she rounded on Elsa, seizing the front of her shirt and putting her face just inches from Elsa’s. “What did you do?!”

“What I needed to do to protect her.”

“DAMMIT, Elsa!” Anna shouted, shoving Elsa away. She stumbled a few paces until her back hit a tree, then stood there as Anna glared at her, a furious look in her eyes. “You never learn, do you?! CIRI! CIRI COME BACK!” As Anna turned and sprinted into the woods after Ciri, Elsa clenched her jaw, a tear running down her cheek, freezing in place.


	42. Hunting the Spirits: Anna - Retrieval

“Ciri!” Anna shouted, as loud as she could manage. “Ciri, come back!” She tore through the underbrush, chasing the bouncing ashen ponytail just visible through the trees. Ciri was stumbling along, half blind from the tears that were no doubt pouring down her cheeks, but Anna was running as fast as she could. She caught up to Ciri before they had even gotten a quarter mile. “Ciri, stop!” It seemed like Ciri had only just realized Anna was there, because she looked around wildly. “Look out!”

Ciri didn’t see the log in time. She tripped, her arms flying out in front of her as she crashed to the ground, then lay there facedown in the dirt and weeds. “Ciri! Are you okay?” Anna dropped to her knees next to her, placing a tentative hand on her back. “Ciri?” she asked again, much softer. She could feel Ciri gasping with sobs, still not turning over, her back heaving as she cried into the dirt. “Oh Ciri,” Anna whispered. “What did my silly sister do this time?” She helped Ciri roll over and sit up. Her face was red and streaked with dirt and tears. Anna gathered her up in her arms as best she could and sat there with her, stroking her hair as Ciri clung to her, breathing in gasps.

“It’s okay,” Anna repeated. “It’s okay.”

After a while, Ciri had calmed down enough to tell Anna what happened. “She… she told me she wanted me to go with Ignis.” _Dammit Elsa_. She had known it would be something like this. Her sister could be so stupid sometimes. “But I didn’t want to go, but she kept insisting, and I kept arguing, and then…” Ciri had to take a few moments to collect herself. “She told me- she said she wasn’t my mother, and that she couldn’t keep babysitting a silly little girl in over her head.”

“Oh, Ciri,” Anna sighed. She couldn’t help but think back to Elsa’s coronation, when she had said those words, those two little words, that wounded Anna to the bottom of her heart. 

_“Please, Elsa, I can’t live like this anymore!”_

_“Then leave.”_

Anna loved Elsa very much, but she could not pretend it was always easy.

“I just wanted to stay… it’s all I have… _she’s_ all I have… but now I don’t! She doesn’t want me! I’m alone _again!_ ” Ciri rocked back and forth, tears streaming from her eyes. “I was… I was about to give her this… to let her know how much she means to me,” Ciri gasped, pulling something out of her pocket. Anna took it. It was a small piece of wood, carved with little skill but great care into the rounded shape of a heart. An intricate, six pointed snowflake had been etched into the surface on one side. She must have been working on this since well before arriving at Weselton. On the other side was scratched four words.

**TO ELSA**

**LOVE, CIRI**

Anna’s heart split in two. “You made this?” Ciri nodded. She looked miserable. “It’s beautiful,” Anna whispered, handing it back to Ciri. 

“It’s stupid,” Ciri said in a voice full of bitterness, staring down at the heart. “She was right. I’m just a silly girl. I’m in over my head. I’m useless. I don’t belong here.”

“Don’t say that,” Anna admonished.

“It’s true. I don’t have anything to offer anyone. I wore out my welcome as soon as we left Arendelle.” Each word trembled with suppressed sobs and derision.

“It’s _not_ true,” Anna said, as firmly as she could. “Ciri, Elsa… Please understand, I’m not defending what she said to you. What she said was cruel, but it also wasn’t true. You _know_ it’s not true, and you _know_ she didn’t mean it. Elsa has… issues.” She couldn’t think of a more delicate way to phrase it, and just now, she wasn’t pleased enough with Elsa to try to pull punches.

“...What do you mean?” Ciri sniffed, and Anna hugged her a little tighter for a moment.

“She didn’t always have this kind of control, you know,” Anna said quietly. “You couldn’t know this, but… she almost killed me by accident when we were younger.”

“She did?” For a moment, Ciri’s surprise cut through her misery.

“She did. She struck me in the head with her powers one morning while we played. My mom and dad had to take me deep into the woods, to where the trolls lived. They saved my life, but in the process… they took away my memories of Elsa’s powers. Did you know the gates were closed for many years?” Ciri nodded against Anna’s shoulder. “That was why. The trolls had tried their best to help, but the instructions they gave Elsa were… vague, at best. My parents interpreted their advice to learn to control the power as ‘learn to suppress it’. I saw her only a handful of times in the years that followed. I grew up alone. I… buried our parents alone, because Elsa was too afraid to hurt me, or anyone else. So she stayed locked away, and of course you know how well that plan worked.”

“The Great Freeze,” Ciri mumbled.

“Yes. I journeyed to the North Mountain with Kristoff- that’s actually how we met, but that’s a story for another time- and tried to be there for her, but… she lost control again, and struck me in the heart. Kristoff took me to the trolls to help me, but they told me ‘only an act of true love will thaw a frozen heart’. We both thought it meant a true love’s kiss, that fairytale kind of stuff, but… well, let’s just say that plan wouldn’t have worked in the best of cases.”

“Hans, right?”

Anna nodded. “I was a sillier girl than you could ever be, back then. Anyway, once I got the sense knocked back into me, or at least some sense, I still thought it meant a true love’s kiss. Kristoff saw Elsa’s storm and worried about me, so he and his reindeer, Sven, ran all the way back. I tried to get to him, but then Hans went to kill Elsa, so…” Anna swallowed. She hated talking about this. The heartbroken, disbelieving look on Kristoff’s face as she turned away from him, the triumph on Hans’s, the burning cold in her heart beginning to spread like fire, the feeling of her chest turning to ice, robbing her of breath, the horror of knowing that it was the end, the pain of every muscle in her body solidifying, her blood freezing in her veins, and then, the terrible, cold emptiness of death, as the last bit of warmth escaped her in that final breath.

“I ran to save her instead, and I did, but it was too late for me.”

“What do you mean ‘too late’?”

“I died, Ciri. I turned to ice. Solid ice. I could feel it, burning me. My heart had frozen solid, and with it, the rest of me, my lungs, my muscles, my eyes, _burning_ , and-” She stopped herself. “Sorry… I don’t like talking about it. Elsa thinks I didn’t feel it. I did.”

“That’s horrible,” Ciri muttered. 

Anna nodded and swallowed, trying to push back the feelings swelling up in her stomach. “Anyway, Elsa’s fears had come true. I was dead, and she had killed me.”

Ciri frowned. “But you-”

“Got better?” Anna chuckled. “I did. It turns out, choosing Elsa over myself was exactly the sort of act of true love I needed.” She paused, letting her tale sink in. “I guess what I’m trying to say is… You’ve seen how much Elsa loves me, right?” Ciri nodded. “It killed her to stay away for all those years, but she did it because she would rather bear that pain than let something happen to me, even though I’d rather have had it the other way. She’d rather we hate her than see us hurt.”

“How does that make sense? What she said _did_ hurt! More than anything! I-”

“Fear often doesn’t make sense, Ciri,” Anna said gently, interrupting Ciri before she could get too upset. “And Elsa and fear have a close relationship.” She gave Ciri a squeeze. “And people make bad choices if they’re scared.”

“How do you know she doesn’t really see me as just some silly girl?”

“Well… I don’t,” Anna admitted. “I don’t think she does, but no one truly knows, but her. And no one but you can decide what you believe.” She kissed the top of Ciri’s head, then broke away from the embrace. “I’m going back to camp. I’ll talk to Elsa and tell her that whether you stay or go is up to you, and you alone.” Ciri blinked, evidently surprised. Anna smiled. “You didn’t really think after all that I would tell you one way or the other, did you? This choice is yours.” She hesitated, then decided she probably should say what she was thinking. “And I know you may be tempted to just walk away and keep walking. I hope you don’t. Whatever you decide, please come back to camp when you’re ready, and I promise to help set you on whatever path you choose.” 

Ciri shook her head. “No, it’s okay. I’ll… come now.” She stood up and stared at the wooden heart in her hands. She let it slip from her fingers, where it landed on the forest floor. She looked at it for a moment, then walked away. Anna waited for Ciri to get a few yards away, then picked it up and slipped it into her pocket before jogging to catch up with her.

As they neared the camp, Ciri slowed down. “What is it?” Anna asked.

“I don’t want the others to see me like this…” Ciri whispered. Her face was paler than usual, her eyes were red and puffy, and tear tracks ran through the dirt that had gotten on her face when she fell.

“Okay. What do you need?”

“I don’t know… I’m really tired.”

“Okay, one second.” She marched away, leaving Ciri standing startled behind her. She got to the camp and saw most of the occupants sitting around in a small circle. She called, “Where’s my sister?” Cari pointed to Elsa’s tent, not meeting Anna’s eyes. “Ugh. Fine.” She glanced around and spotted Ignis. “You’re not leaving yet. Wait until tomorrow. We’re all staying here for the day.”

“May I ask why, Your Highness?” he said, looking confused. It seemed like he didn’t know what Elsa’s outburst had been about. Anna glared at him. “Yes, Your Highness,” he said, casting his eyes downward. 

“All of you, face that way!” Anna ordered, pointing in the opposite direction of Ciri. Baldur’s lips had just started to form the word “Why” when Leila’s elbow collided with his ribs. When they were all looking away, Anna waved to Ciri, then pointed to Ciri’s tent. Ciri hurried forward and ducked into her tent. Anna went to her own and got a clean cloth and a waterskin, then crossed to Ciri’s tent and stuck her head inside. Ciri was sitting on the edge of her small bedroll, her eyes dazed and faraway. 

“Here, Ciri,” Anna said, setting the cloth and waterskin down just inside the tent. “You can clean up a bit if you feel like it. No one will bother you today, I promise. You can stay in here as long as you want. I can check on you every hour or so if you want?” Ciri didn’t say anything, but she did nod. Her expression was blank and unreadable. “It’ll be okay, Ciri.” With that, she pulled back and closed the flap. 

She strode over to the circle of dutifully distracted Queensguard, then said, “Okay, you don’t have to look that way now.” Seven pairs of eyes turned toward her, curious. “You can do whatever you want to today, but…” Anna pointed at Ciri’s tent. “None of you are to enter that tent. None of you are to speak to the person in that tent. Is that clear?”

A chorus of “Yes, Your Highness” rang out. “Good.” Anna spun on her heel, then marched back towards Elsa’s tent. She ripped open the flap without preamble.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Anna shot at her sister. Elsa sat on the side of her bed, slipping her boots on. Heins sat next to her, looking very unsure of what to do with himself. Anna jerked her thumb out of the tent, and Heins at first refused, shaking his head resolutely. Anna glared at him. He held her gaze for a moment, then looked back and forth between Anna and Elsa. He met Anna’s eyes again, then dropped his own, standing up and leaving the tent without a word. Anna’s glare was getting its money’s worth today. Anna took a few steps closer to Elsa, then stopped, looking down at her. Now that she was closer, she could see Elsa’s fingers shaking as she laced up her boots.

“Are you happy now, Elsa?” Anna demanded.

“Of course I’m not happy, Anna.”

“Then why did you say that horrible stuff to Ciri?”

“Because it’s true,” Elsa insisted, looking at Anna for the first time. Anna could see she was being careful to maintain her mask. “I’m not her mother. We can’t keep babysitting her. She isn’t safe here.”

“You’re so full of shit, Elsa,” Anna shot back, refusing to accept Elsa’s excuse. “All you’ve ever done is shut people out. Push them away. I thought you had changed, but you’re still just the same scared little girl you always have been, aren’t you?”

“How could you say-” Elsa protested, but Anna stepped forward, slashing the air with her hand, cutting Elsa off. She could feel the bubble of anger rising in her stomach.

“Stop being such a self-righteous idiot,” Anna spat. “You’re so wrapped up in this stupid idea of yourself as some poor, suffering soul that you’re actively sabatoging your own life, in order to keep your charade going. She is as safe with us as she is anywhere else. If the Empire found Ignis, do you think they would just let her go? She would be _lucky_ if they _only_ killed her. She saved both of our lives and was a party to the assassination of a Governor. I don’t even want to _think_ about what Hans would do to her. The only one you’re actually protecting is yourself, in some stupid self-righteous idea of magnamity.” Anna pulled the wooden heart out of her pocket and threw it at Elsa. It landed on her lap, and Elsa looked down. “The girl who made that, thinks the world of you. That’s the person whose heart you just broke.” Elsa picked up the heart, her hands shaking so much Anna thought she might drop it. She ran her fingers over the snowflake, then turned it over and stared at the inscription. 

“This is what’s going to happen,” Anna said. Elsa didn’t react, still staring at the four carved words on the heart. “We are staying here for today. No traveling. Ignis too. Ciri is in her tent. It is Ciri’s, and _only_ Ciri’s, choice, about whether she stays or goes. If you try to decide for her after this, I _promise_ you I will leave with her. I don’t care what you do today, but you are not to talk to Ciri unless _she_ asks to speak with you. Is that clear?” Elsa nodded. Her eyes hadn’t left the heart. 

“Look, Elsa,” Anna said, in a softer tone. “I know you’re only trying to do what you think is right. But… and I’m sorry, but you doing what you thought was right once got me killed. You’re not alone. So stop acting like it. Stop _making_ it that way. Lean on me. Lean on Heins, and Kristoff. You decided all on your own that Ciri would be better off without you. Ciri doesn’t agree.” With that, she left the tent.

Heins stood a fair distance away. Anna noted, and appreciated, the fact that he had not eavesdropped. “What the hell is going on?” he asked as Anna neared him.

“Elsa’s a moron,” Anna summed up, and joined the rest of the Queensguard, trying to distract herself from her sister’s well-intentioned but misguided idiocy. Heins went into Elsa’s tent again, but left soon after, saying she wanted to be left alone for a while. The morning turned into afternoon, the afternoon into evening, the uncomfortable atmosphere loosening up before too long. It had been a long time since any of them had a day without much to do, so they relished the opportunity, though Heins kept glancing over at Elsa’s tent. Whether he wanted her to join them or stay in her tent, Anna wasn’t sure. She checked on Ciri every hour or so, as promised. Every time Anna checked, Ciri was lying in her bed, facing away from the entrance. She didn’t ask for food or drink, even though Anna offered more than once. Most of the day had passed, before Elsa came out of her tent while Anna went back to the group, and asked to see Ciri.

“I told you, Elsa,” Anna said. “It’s up to her.”

“I know.” Elsa’s voice was very small. She looked somehow diminished, more fragile than usual. She held the wooden heart in front of her own. “Can you ask her, please?”

“Fine.” Anna went back to Ciri’s tent and poked her head inside. “Hey again, Ciri,” Anna said.

“Hey.”

“Um… You don’t have to say yes, but… Elsa wants to talk to you. Do you want to see her?”

“That’s fine.” Ciri’s voice was flat. Anna had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. But she had asked, and Ciri said it was okay. It would be wrong to argue with her about it.

“Okay.” Anna withdrew and turned to Elsa, who still stood there, her face downcast. Anna put her hand on Elsa’s chin and turned her face upward, so that her eyes met Anna’s. In a voice that Anna tried to make at once firm and understanding, she said, “Don’t let fear rule you. You’re not alone. Let people in. Stop trying to be a damn martyr all the time. And _don’t fuck this up_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this edition of "Anna is 300% sick of your shit, Elsa"


	43. Hunting the Spirits: Elsa - Uncomfortable Truths

“I won’t.” Anna nodded and walked away, leaving Elsa alone, standing near Ciri’s tent. Elsa had always considered herself a selfless person. Since Anna came to her tent, she had come to a very unpleasant realization. She was the most selfish person she knew. 

She took a deep, steadying breath, and entered Ciri’s tent. Ciri sat on her bed, facing away from Elsa. She did not react when Elsa entered. “Ciri?” There was no answer. That was fine. She didn’t feel like she deserved one just now. “I’m sorry, Ciri. About everything.” Elsa desperately wanted to go and embrace Ciri, but she _knew_ she didn’t deserve that. So she sat on the ground, just inside the tent’s entrance, feeling like she should intrude as little as possible. “You don’t have to say anything… I just wanted to tell you some things. If you want me to leave… I understand.” Elsa waited, but Ciri didn’t respond. “I… realized some things today. Things that I should have known a long time ago. I know you looked up to me. I don’t know if you still do. But if you do, you shouldn’t.” Ciri shifted a little, but didn’t turn around. Elsa swallowed. Her throat hurt from crying on and off for ten hours. She closed her eyes to soothe their stinging.

“I'm... not a good person, Ciri. I always had some idea of myself in my head. Some stupid, immature, romantic idea, of the nobly suffering princess. The one who takes on burdens so others don’t have to. Like the ones you read about in story books. I got so used to that idea that all I’ve ever done is push people away because I thought that was the role I had to play. I pushed Anna away all my life. I’ve been pushing _everyone_ away all my life.” Elsa sighed, putting her head in her hands. “I had almost gotten better, too. Two years ago. I had finally been convinced to let something good happen to me. To let someone in, and share my life with them. I married Heins. I was happy. And then, less than two months later… Arendelle fell.

“I guess it’s sort of always been like that. It was like the universe was telling me I couldn’t be happy, and if I ever was, something horrible would happen. I was happy as a little girl, and then my magic almost killed Anna. I was happy when I escaped to the North Mountain after my coronation, but I had frozen the kingdom, and Anna….” She couldn’t say it. Even now, she was too ashamed. She kept going, trying to cover the moment. “I was happy after I got married, and then thousands of my people died and my kingdom fell.” 

“Because of that, I’ve… I’ve always shut people out, so I never realized… I’m not sparing those I love. I’m just amplifying their pain. I can’t believe I didn’t realize it sooner...” She felt a cold tear leak from the corner of her eye and roll down her cheek. “I guess…” Elsa sighed, frustrated at her inability to articulate her feelings. She took a deep breath. She had to do this. “This may sound obvious to you. It probably does. I’m such a fool… we bear the burdens of those we love, whether that person wants it or not. And by shutting them out, we just… add to them. Because they want to help, but can’t, so they feel even more helpless.” 

Elsa wiped away her tears now dripping down her face at a steady pace. Ciri had still not turned around, her head hanging low. “I always thought… I was being selfless. By bearing my burdens alone. I wanted to be the one who suffered, to spare the people I loved from it. But I wasn’t being selfless. I was being selfish. The time that I’ve spent with you has been one of the things I treasure most in this world. And I’m so sorry that I hurt you. I convinced myself that I was doing the right thing by trying to send you away. But I was just doing the same shit I always do. Giving in to my fear. Trying to be the stupid martyr,” she said bitterly, borrowing Anna’s term for her. “I’m so sorry, Ciri. I’m sorry I tried to send you away. I’m sorry I tried to shut you out. I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry I said what I said. I’m so, so sorry.” 

For almost two full minutes, Elsa waited in silence for Ciri to react. To tell her to leave, to accept her apology, to reject her apology, to scream at her, to cry, to do anything. The seconds ticked by, each one seeming to stretch ten times longer than normal. Elsa’s heart thundered in her ears. She yearned to break the silence, but she waited. She owed that to Ciri.

At long last, Ciri turned around to face Elsa. Elsa felt another dull blow to her heart as she saw that Ciri had been holding the crystalline rose Elsa had made for her. It was a strange feeling- here she was, a Queen, a full grown woman, sitting before a thirteen year old girl, as a condemned man stands before a judge waiting for his verdict. Ciri opened her mouth to speak, and Elsa’s heart seemed to stall. There was a distressed, faraway look on Ciri’s face. Her green eyes stared down at the rose, and her fingers caressed its petals. “You’re… right. You have been selfish.” It hurt Elsa, so, so much more, to hear Ciri say it. Ciri’s pale fingers traced the shape of the ice. “And I don’t care if you think you’re a good person or not. But I do know one thing.”

“What?” Elsa whispered.

“You’re an idiot. Anna told me about what happened to her. How she…” Ciri swallowed, her fingers still tracing the flower. “How she died. How you killed her. She felt it, you know,” Ciri whispered. “She told me you didn’t know. But she felt it.” Horror grew in Elsa’s heart, fighting for space with her anxiety. Anna couldn’t have felt it. “But she didn’t tell you. Because she didn’t want you to have to live with that.” Her eyes turned upwards, meeting Elsa’s for the first time, the green boring into the blue. Elsa felt very small. “ _That’s_ what it is to be selfless, Elsa. Not by bearing your own burdens alone and shoving away everyone who loves you. To bear _other’s_ burdens _for_ them.”

Ciri took a deep breath. “I’ve lost so many people. My father. My best friend. Mrs. Salverson, who was a little too outspoken about her support of the old Kingdoms and wound up hanged for it. When I met you, and started traveling with you… I’ve been terrified ever since. I’ve been happy, too, but… terrified. Terrified of losing you all. Terrified of losing _you_ .” Her eyes lit up. “But you know what I haven’t done? Tried to push you away. Because you know what I know? That in a world this cruel, you _hold on_ to what you love.”

“I’m sorry, Ciri,” Elsa whispered.

“Yeah, you’ve said that already,” Ciri said. She looked around, as though lost, then said, “I left something in the woods. I need to go get it.”

“No you don’t,” Elsa said. She reached into her pocket with one trembling hand and brought out the carved wooden heart. Ciri stared at it.

“Anna, I suppose.” Elsa nodded. Ciri snorted. “Figures she’d pick it up.”

“I’m glad she did,” Elsa paused, unsure of how to continue. “Ciri, I know you’re mad at me. You have every right to be. I know I screwed up. But… I really, really hope you decide to stay with us. Stay with me.”

Ciri raised her eyebrows at Elsa. “What did I just say, Elsa? I’m not as much of an idiot as you. When I love something, I hold on to it.” She gave a small smile. “I’m staying.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Luckily, Ciri's smarter than Elsa. Sort of. This was really interesting to explore, because both Ciri and Elsa have abandonment issues, but deal with them in polar opposite ways. Ciri is terrified that people she's close to will leave her/die and tries to cling to them, while Elsa is terrified to get close to people at all in case they leave her/die.
> 
> See you Saturday!


	44. Hunting the Spirits: Kristoff - Uninvited Guests

“Man, Elsa’s got some issues,” Kristoff sighed.

“That’s exactly what I said!” Anna cried, laughing. They rode side by side the next day, heading through a patch of woods on their way back towards Arendelle. Ignis, Baldur, and Leila had departed early that morning, Anna had just finished regaling Kristoff with the tale of Elsa the Stupidly Self-Sacrificial, and he was still in mild disbelief.

“I can’t believe she’s  _ still  _ pulling this crap,” Kristoff said.

Anna shrugged. “It’s not really her fault. Her scars run deep, Kristoff. She’s had a lot of reason to think the way she does. Years of reasons, come to think of it. And I’m really not much better.”

“What do you mean?”

“Hmm, I don’t know,” Anna said sarcastically, ducking under a branch. “Let’s see, have I ever become irrationally attached to someone almost instantly due to years of isolation?”

“Oh,” Kristoff chuckled. “Right. I’m just glad you got through to her, even if it was a little rough. Got through to them both. I’d have hated for her to lose Ciri like that.”

“Me too.” 

They lapsed into a comfortable silence for a few minutes. Kristoff always liked being in the woods; it reminded him of his childhood. He could see Ciri through the underbrush up ahead, walking in between Elsa and Heins. It was hard to tell what they were talking about. Anna had tried to talk to Elsa that morning, to see how it had gone and to apologize for being so harsh the day before, but Elsa had waved it away. She thanked Anna for her honesty and said that she’d helped Elsa reconnect with Ciri after Elsa was convinced Ciri wouldn’t forgive her, so it was worth it. Ciri had been relatively silent as well, only stopping by to give Anna a hug and a sincere thank you before they left for the day. With Ciri’s permission, Anna had filled him in on what she had talked to Ciri about, but as to the rest, they were both in the dark. 

“Hey, Anna?”

“Yeah?”

“You think things will ever go back to normal?”

“I hope so,” Anna sighed. “We’re making progress, right?”

“Are we?” Kristoff asked.

“Sure we are,” Anna said. “One of the Governors is gone, and we have an actual path forward. Whatever the girl is, whether she’s the Source or not, I think she’s trying to help. And… I actually feel… pretty good today.”

“You do?”

“I do,” she confirmed. “I’m not sure why, but I do.”

“Well that’s… good,” Kristoff said, and even before he said it, he could hear how stupid it was. Anna laughed.

“It is,” she agreed. She reached over and took his hand. “We can’t forget to live, Kristoff.”

“Huh?”

“We’re trying to fix all this, yes. But we can’t forget that these moments are precious too. We’ve lost so much time… Some of that is my fault, some of that isn’t. It doesn’t really matter. I don’t want to keep losing it. You’re here with me. Elsa and Heins are here. We have the Queensguard, and Elsie, and Ciri, and Gareth.”

Kristoff smiled at her. “You really do feel good today.”

Anna smiled back. “I do.” That’s when Kristoff heard Alan shout.

“Oh,  _ fuck! _ Enemies to the rear!” Kristoff’s heart clenched.  _ No. Not now. Why now?? _ Kristoff could see Elsa and Heins spin around, drawing their weapons, sheltering Ciri between them. Anna pulled her horse around and galloped off towards the rear, Kristoff just behind her. Anna’s ponytail was bouncing wildly as she stood up in the saddle, going as fast as she could, a burst of fire in her right hand. Kristoff’s mind was reeling. Alan and Cari had been in the rear. Where were the others? Silas and Elsie? He couldn’t remember. Adrenaline flooded his body. Kristoff drew his sword, preparing to-

His horse screamed and toppled forward. Its front forelegs dug into the soft earth, and the rest of it, carried by momentum, flipped all the way over. Kristoff was thrown out of the saddle, landing hard on his back in the mud, knocking the wind out of him. He looked around, searching for enemies. His horse was lying on its side, twitching as the life poured out of the jagged arrow wound in its throat. He staggered to his feet, gasping for breath. Two black-clad soldiers charged him at the same time, their blades shining in the morning air. Kristoff stumbled back, aiming a ferocious swing at the one on the right, trying to keep them off him. 

The one on the left leapt forward, then collapsed, the blood spattered feathers of Silas’s arrow sticking out of the side of his neck. Seizing the opening provided by the distraction, Kristoff stabbed out again at the survivor. The attack lacked any finesse or precision, but it did the trick, tearing the other soldier’s face open from mouth to ear, and as he fell to his knees, ragged flaps of skin hanging off the side of his head, Kristoff adjusted his grip and finished the job. 

His head swiveled around. He could see Elsa and Heins running towards him, a globe of ice embedded in the ground behind Elsa. She must have sealed Ciri inside. More sounds of clashing steel rang out behind him, even as more soldiers jumped out in front of Heins and Elsa, who dodged their swings by millimeters before turning to engage. “Help them!” Kristoff gasped to Silas, who nodded and sprinted towards Elsa and Heins, who were already being driven back by the assault, despite Elsa using her magic with expert precision.

Kristoff took off towards Anna, and could see her already dismounted, her horse lying on the ground thirty feet from where she now was, locked in a deadly dance of steel and flame with a half dozen opponents. Despite her skill and aggression, however, the soldiers didn’t seem to react when the fire touched them, or even surrounded parts of their bodies. Anna was relegated to using her fire to mask herself, to distract, to blind. With a sinking feeling, he realized that this was why Elsa’s magic seemed ineffective. These soldiers had protection, like Hubert had had. Alan and Cari fought another pair each. Where had they all come from? Kristoff yanked his knife from his belt and threw it. It tumbled end over end through the air, missing Anna by inches and striking true into one of her opponents’ legs. She took advantage of the opportunity at once, stabbing the man through the chest, and then Kristoff was there. He drove three of the remaining enemies away through surprise and his feral swings, leaving Anna only two to deal with. The three regained their composure within a few blows, however, and Kristoff was forced onto the defensive, moving backwards with swift and sure footwork, keeping them from surrounding him.

He managed to slay two of them with quick, lucky strikes, but then his foot caught on something, and he tripped. He fell backwards, his sword falling to his side. He saw triumph shine in his enemy’s eyes, but the light in them faded almost at once. At first, Kristoff didn’t understand what had happened, but then, Anna’s scream of pain split the air. She had turned her attention away from her only remaining opponent to save Kristoff. Her enemy had swung a sword into the side of her chest for her trouble, and her own sword was pulled from her grasp as the man it was embedded in fell. Kristoff could see a ferocious rage fill Anna’s eyes. She grabbed the sword’s crossguard, keeping the soldier from pulling it back out. As Kristoff watched, horrified, Anna tugged on the sword, sliding it out of her side and pulling the soldier off balance, then grabbed onto the soldier's face. The soldier screamed as Anna summoned the fire, the flames growing hotter and brighter as she forced it through whatever protection the soldier had, into his eyes, his nose, his mouth, his ears. The screams stopped, and the soldier fell back, unmoving, a steaming handprint branded onto his face.

“Anna!” Kristoff screamed, running towards her. She spun the sword around, then jumped forward to join Cari’s fight. Kristoff joined Alan’s, and within a minute, they had killed the remaining soldiers. “Anna,’ Kristoff cried again, rushing to her. Alan and Cari were tending to each other’s minor wounds, a couple cuts and scrapes, but nothing like Anna.

“I’m fine,” she groaned. Judging by her expression and the fact that she was doubled over in pain, she was very much not fine, but at the same time, the color was strong in her face and she was not struggling to breathe. “Where’s everyone else?” Kristoff looked up the path to see Elsa, Heins, Elsie, and Silas all running towards them.

“They’re coming. Sit down.” Anna did, grunting in pain, squeezing Kristoff’s hand painfully tight as he lowered her to the ground. “Lay back,” he said. “Elsie! Anna’s hurt!”

“Out of the way, Kristoff,” Elsie ordered as she staggered to a stop next to him. Kristoff slid backwards as Elsie fell to her knees next to Anna. She ripped open Anna’s shirt a little further than the blade already had, peered at the wound, then sighed in relief. “You’re remarkably lucky, Your Highness.” Her sigh was echoed all around at her words. “It’s gonna hurt, but it bounced off your ribs. I need to stitch it up. Take it easy for a few days, then you’ll be fine.”

“Do it then,” Anna said through gritted teeth. As Elsie dug into her bag for her suture kit, Kristoff took stock of the others. Elsa was gazing down at Anna with a concerned look on her face. She had a cut on her forearm that oozed blood, but it didn’t look very deep, no more than a bad scratch. Heins seemed uninjured, just on edge. His eyes darted around, never staying on one spot for more than a second or two. Silas seemed calm. No surprise there. Ciri… was still in her globe.

“Um, Els?” Kristoff said. “You may want to let Ciri out…”

“Oh!” In her worry for Anna, it seemed that she had momentarily forgotten that Ciri couldn’t exactly let herself out of her icy cage. She turned and ran off towards the globe, Heins following close behind. 

Anna flinched and took a sharp intake of breath as Elsie poked the needle through her skin again. “Sorry, Your Highness. Just two more.” Anna nodded, breathing hard through her nose, with her eyes closed and brow furrowed. 

Kristoff bent over her and put his lips up to Anna’s ear. “Thank you for saving my life,” he breathed, and he saw a gentle smile cross Anna’s face. She squeezed his hand and turned her head, pressing her lips to his for a brief moment.

“You’re welcome.”

“Done,” Elsie announced, gathering up the kit. Kristoff pulled Anna to her feet, who grimaced in pain, but seemed otherwise fine. “Is everyone else okay?” Elsie asked. There was a chorus of affirmations, and she nodded, satisfied, but then she frowned. “How the hell did they find us?”

“We did stay in one place yesterday. Maybe they caught up?” Alan suggested.

Kristoff frowned. “It’s possible, I suppose,” he admitted. “But it doesn’t sound right, does it? We had a huge head start, and were more than fifty miles from Weselton by yesterday. My question is why didn’t Gareth… warn us…” An awful realization crashed over Kristoff. “Has anyone seen Gareth today?” He could tell by the looks that were exchanged within the group that the answer was “No”. They often didn’t see him in human form in the mornings. He would almost always have already transformed, either into his eagle, owl, or maybe a wolf, checking the surroundings for danger. But as Kristoff thought about it, he hadn’t seen Gareth overhead all day. He had assumed it was no more than the woods blocking his view of the sky, but now, he wasn’t sure.

“Shit,” Cari said, her face going pale. “Did they capture him?” 

“I don’t know,” Kristoff said, as Elsa, Heins, and Ciri joined them. Ciri looked a little shaken, but otherwise unharmed. She looked at Anna, whose shirt was stained with blood all down her side, with concern, but then Anna smiled and gave a thumbs up. Ciri smiled back, then listened as Kristoff continued. “I’ve worked with Gareth for two years. He’s had some close calls but he’s always been able to get away. He can go bear and fight his way out, or he can go something like rat and sneak away.”

“He can turn into a  _ rat _ ?” Ciri asked, sounding disgusted, then she looked around, blushing. “Not the point. Sorry.”

“As a matter of fact, young Lady, I can,” came Gareth’s voice from behind Kristoff. He spun around to see Gareth, looking unharmed, coming towards them from behind a clump of trees. He stood there, in his normal, excessively formal manner, his hands clasped behind his back.

“Gareth!” He smiled at the greetings.

“I appreciate your concern for my wellbeing.”

“What happened, Gareth?” Anna asked. “Did you not see the soldiers?”

“Apologies, to all of you,” Gareth said. “I did in fact see them. But I was prevented from warning you.”

“How?” Elsa asked. There was no malice in her voice, just simple curiosity.

“Well…” Gareth took his hands out from behind him. Everyone except Elsie winced and averted their eyes. An arrow was stuck through Gareth’s arm, just below the elbow. “This made it rather difficult to fly, as you might expect.”

“Gareth, why didn’t you change to heal it?” Kristoff cried. One of the many useful side effects of Gareth’s magic was the ability to recover from any wound, so long as he had the energy to shift into something else and back again.

“I thought about it, Your Highness,” Gareth said casually, seeming to be unaware of the blood dripping down his forearm. “But I cannot remove it as a bird, and as a human, I was afraid to remove it in case I fainted from blood loss. Would you mind?” He held out his arm to Elsie as though he had no more than a splinter.

“Gareth, doesn’t that hurt?” Ciri cried, wringing her hands.

“Indeed it does, my Lady. That’s why I’m hoping Miss Elsie might be of assistance.”

“You know Gareth,” Cari said weakly, as Elsie examined the wound, turning Gareth’s arm this way and that, then snapped the arrowhead off. “Stoicism has its limits.”

“If it does, my Lady,” Gareth said, not wincing as Elsie yanked the arrow out, sending blood splattering to the dirt, “I have yet to find them.” With that, feathers sprouted from his face and arms as he shrank to his eagle, and Kristoff watched with macabre fascination as the bleeding hole in his arm closed up and sealed, the last trace of the wound being a patch of still wet blood on his arm before the feathers pushed out.

“That still leaves a problem, then,” Elsa said, looking around at them all. “How  _ did _ they find us?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Out of order update today. Super long one too. Last update was more divisive than I ever expected it to be. I'm posting a lot today as a sort of apology/palate cleanser, as I think last update would have gone down smoother in an actual book you could have kept reading and see that Elsa is all good (for the most part, or at least, better than she was left last chapter).
> 
> Also, fun fact: Gareth was born with exactly three fucks to give. He did not use one of them today.


	45. Hunting the Spirits: Heins - A Calming Presence

The paranoia that they were somehow being tracked was enough for the company to double their speed. They started rising before dawn, and stopping well after the sun was set. They were also spreading out much more during their travel, to ensure that they could not be ambushed all at once again, as well as extending their vision much further. They began keeping watches at night. Before, they trusted their small company and secluded campsites to keep them safe, at least for the most part. Now, none of them were comfortable ever, much less while sleeping.

The loss of the horses, while unfortunate, didn’t do much to slow them since there weren’t enough horses for everyone anyway. Still, it made for harder travel, and that, combined with the faster pace and a string of unsuccessful hunts, along with food getting scavenged by woodland creatures in the night, made for a tired, hungry, and irritable group. Anna’s injury, while far from debilitating, caused her near constant pain, and while she dealt with it as best she could without complaint, there was no denying it shortened her already miniscule temper. Anna and Kristoff argued every day, and more than once, Heins saw Kristoff throw up his hands in frustration and walk away from Anna, who was usually still shouting at him. Alan and Cari, who had been inseparable for as long as Heins could remember, were now almost always at each other’s throats. 

The tense atmosphere had gotten to Heins and Elsa as well. The situation with Ciri had caused Elsa’s already shaky mental stability to shatter. Heins was doing the best he could to help her patch it back together, and they had some success, but the constant pangs of hunger, lack of sleep, and overall exhaustion meant that his patience was at an all time low- even for her. But every time he showed even the slightest frustration, she would sink even lower, which made him more frustrated and more unable to hide it, and so it became a spiral of misery, feeling like each was chasing the other into the pits of despair.

Within a few days, the group had begun swapping traveling partners. The first day, Heins and Kristoff rode together while the sisters paired up, but by that night, Heins wanted to strangle Kristoff for all his moping and complaining about Anna, with Heins firing back about Elsa, who returned even more foul-tempered than before. The next day, they tried Heins with Anna, and Kristoff with Elsa. That day, a hotter and drier one than usual, had been spent listening to Anna drone on and on about Kristoff and Elsa and how annoyed she was at both of them, Heins unable to get a word in edgewise. He didn’t even know how she could talk so much with how dry their throats were. Elsa returned that night, appearing to be in a better mood, but it turned out that she had just been gathering ammo with Kristoff all day to assault Heins with. He walked out soon after she started to pick up steam, opting to sleep outside that night. Despite how warm it was, he woke up shivering several times in the night. They kept up the rotation, going through the whole Queensguard one by one, and by the time one person cycled around again, Heins found he could just barely tolerate them. Well, apart from one person, the only person keeping them from killing each other. Ciri.

Ciri had seemed to take their foul moods as a sort of challenge, one that she  _ would _ overcome. In many ways, demeanor, gentle smile, graceful movement (most of the time), she bore a strong resemblance to Elsa. However, her seemingly bottomless well of energy and optimism, along with her clumsiness (some of the time) was incredibly like Anna’s- or at least, how Anna  _ should _ be. How she was before the Fall. Ciri also turned out to have quite the singing voice, and when she sang in the evenings, Heins could feel the leftover tension bleeding out of the air. Heins wasn’t sure if he was being realistic or cynical in his thinking that it couldn’t last long. Everyone in the group, save Ciri, had been on the run for more than two years now. He was sure that she would soon become as bitter as the rest of them as the long days and lack of food took their toll.

To Heins’s surprise, as the days stretched into weeks, and they left the plains of Weselton behind and entered the mountainous Arendelle, Ciri showed no signs of embittering. He asked her one day, as they walked side by side on a narrow path next to a steep gorge, how she was managing to stay so positive.

She beamed at him. “I’m with people I love.”

Misery truly does love company, because he set about at once trying to tear a hole in her sails. “Yeah, but aren’t you hungry? Aren’t you tired?”

She shrugged, still smiling radiantly. “Of course, but… I went hungry a lot back home. This isn’t so bad.”

A sinking feeling of shame settled in Heins’s stomach. What the hell was wrong with him? Why was he  _ trying _ to make her as miserable as he was? He was hungry, and tired, and irritable- that was no reason to treat her that way. “I’m sorry, Ciri,” he said, and she blinked at him, honestly perplexed.

“For what?”

Heins smiled at her. “Never mind.” After that, he felt a little bit better. In fact, he felt so much better after his day with Ciri that that night, he went to Elsa and pulled her aside.

“What do you want?” she asked, her tone short and clipped, her eyes hard. Heins didn’t answer, he just pulled her into a tight embrace.

“I love you, so much.”

After a moment’s pause, she returned the embrace. “I love you too, Heins.”

Heins kissed the top of her head and they broke apart, still holding each other’s hands. She peered up at him. “What’s this for?”

“Elsa, I know it’s been a rough few weeks. I know I haven’t been a very good husband lately. But I just wanted to let you know how much I love you. And always will.”

“I know, Heins.” She smiled at him, but it was a sad smile. “It’s so hard.”

“I know. But we can get through it. I’m sorry I haven’t been as supportive as I should be.”

“I’m sorry too,” Elsa said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, still not letting go of Heins’s. “I haven’t either. But you’re right. We can.” She furrowed her brow at him and tilted her head to the side. “But what brought this on?” Heins looked towards Ciri, who had just begun to sing. Elsa followed his gaze, then looked back at him, a melancholic smile on her face. “I see.”

Heins nodded. “I was grumpy to her today, trying to drag her down, but when I apologized- she hadn’t even noticed. I feel terrible, but it made me realize how big an asshole I’ve been to you, too.” Elsa leaned forward and kissed him, then slipped an arm around his waist.

“Let’s go listen to her.”

That was not the end of their arguments, of their troubles, of the wall between them, but after that, they were a little more civil, a little less vindictive, a little more tempered by the love they shared. The days became more bearable, and Heins could see Ciri’s influence spreading to others. Anna and Kristoff were still distant with each other, but the shouting matches had stopped. Alan and Cari were getting along again. 

They never did get attacked again, but that was mostly due to their reinvigorated vigilance. Several times, they had to take a long detour to avoid an ambush, or double back for a bit to try to throw the Empire off their trail, but it was like they knew where the company was headed. 

And so it was that the company passed into Arendelle, and the next step in their journey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ciri is so pure.


	46. Hunting the Spirits: Anna - Another Regret

The last time Kristoff had visited his family, it had been after Grand Pabbie had passed almost five years ago. The life of a Prince at court left very little time for lengthy journeys into the woods. Back in those days, he was always talking about how he should make more of an effort to go out and visit, but he never did. After the Fall, he had stayed far away from the trolls, for fear of getting them involved. Very few people knew about his connection to the trolls, and that was just how both Kristoff and the trolls liked it. Now, faced with seeing them again after so long, and after so much had happened, Kristoff was more anxious than Anna could ever remember seeing him.

Anna and Kristoff had been short with each other for weeks now, along with the rest of the company. Anna was tired, hungry, and her fuse was as short as it'd ever been, and Kristoff’s was no longer. However, as they drew closer to his childhood home, both of them sensed that a cease-fire was necessary. The angry retorts or petty snipes diminished, then stopped completely. He confessed to Anna, one night as they went to bed, that he was scared that they wouldn’t approve of the man he had become since the rise of the Empire. She kissed him and told him he had nothing to worry about, but she wasn’t convinced of that herself.

Kristoff had always had a darker side to him. The first time Anna saw a hint of it was when he went after Hans just after Elsa thawed the fjord. Kristoff didn’t even know yet that Hans had betrayed them. For all he knew, Hans was still trying to do the right thing. But he went after Elsa, and Kristoff knew that Anna loves Elsa. That was all the reason Kristoff needed to rip him apart. In retrospect, she probably should have let him tear Hans limb from limb, but there was no way to know what would happen if she didn’t. The next, more significant unveiling of Kristoff’s violent tendencies was when he killed the assassins who had attacked them on their way back to Arendelle after visiting the North Mountain, but he had explained that as simple fear of their situation, despite the savagery of the kills. During the war, he had been brutal, and bloodthirsty, but no more than any of the others. They were defending their homes, after all. But he seemed more at home, somehow, with a bloodied sword in his hand than even someone like Alarik. She had never discussed this with him, but she thought that, on some level, he knew she harbored these feelings.

There was one more thing that was bothering her about Kristoff. She had first become aware of it on the night they reunited, but it had been pushed to the back of her mind almost at once by Elsa’s injuries and Heins’s sudden arrival. When Elsa was telling the story of her vision, how had Kristoff known that Anna’s neck wouldn’t break? Arendelle had not had anyone hanged since before her grandfather was King. On the very rare occasions that they had put someone to death, it was done via guillotine, a bloodier but quicker and (theoretically) more painless method. Anna had never seen this, and Elsa had never ordered this, but she knew where the guillotine was kept in the castle, and had always given its room a wide berth.

So if Kristoff couldn’t have seen a hanging in Arendelle, and he had been born and raised within the Kingdom’s borders, whose execution had he seen? Who did he see, whose neck did not break? She tried to ask him about it, many times, but every time she did, she found her throat closing up, and she would sputter random nonsense at him and try to change the subject. Kristoff had only ever asked about the gates being closed once, and it was no more than a matter of fact-finding for some meeting he was holding with visiting dignitaries later that week. Other than that, he avoided the subject, and Anna never broached it. The times when the gates were closed had been the most formative, but also the most traumatizing, years of her life. What if asking about Kristoff’s past dredged up something awful that he was trying to move past, the same as her? She figured that even if she were to ask him, it would be after all this, and they could sort that out later. As it turned out, she would find out very soon.

“You okay, sweetie?” Anna asked Kristoff tentatively, on the morning they were to reach the trolls. He nodded, but it was clear he hadn’t slept much, if at all, despite the fact that it wasn’t one of his nights on watch. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his beard, which he had begun taking more care of since reuniting with Anna (at her request), was bushy and disheveled. He was fidgeting, unable to sit still, as he sat on the ground, having just finished lacing up his boots.

“Yeah,” Kristoff said, clearly lying. Anna sighed and went over to him, bending down behind him and wrapping her arms around him.

“It’ll be okay,” she whispered, then kissed his cheek, wrinkling her nose as his beard tickled her lips. He must have noticed, because he mumbled an apology and tried to use his hand to smooth out the spot, causing Anna to giggle at the ineffectiveness of the attempt.

“I am excited to see them, I am,” Kristoff said softly. “But… don’t you think they’d be ashamed of who I am now? I’ve done… horrible things. It’ll be just like when I first-” he stopped speaking abruptly. Anna felt a chill that had nothing to do with the temperature. She pulled back from him, her hands on his shoulders.

“When you first what, Kristoff?”

He shook his head. “Nothing.”

“Come on, it’s just me, when you first what?”

“Nothing, forget about it.” He shook off Anna’s hands and stood up. 

“Kristoff-”

“Just stop, okay?” he said, not facing her. His head was held low. “I don’t want to talk about it, alright?” His tone had been gentle enough, but Anna couldn’t help but feel stung. She didn’t  _ want _ to talk about her past either, but she wouldn’t react like this if Kirstoff asked her about it.

“Fine,” she said, in as neutral a voice she could manage, then she left the tent. Most of the rest of the company was already tearing down the camp in the early morning air. Anna saw Ciri walk by, talking animatedly to Silas, who looked like he was considering the pros and cons of a lobotomy via tent spike to escape the horror of being talked to by a cheerful girl. Heins and Elsa seemed to be getting along okay today, which was a good change of pace. Everyone had been on edge for a while now, but they finally had some luck with a couple of hunts, and each of them had a full stomach for the first time since leaving Weselton. Anna joined Elsie in helping to tear down her tent, noticing when Kristoff left theirs, but not looking at him. She understood he was on edge, but it still hurt that he was so staunchly refusing to talk about what was actually causing it. It’s not what they promised each other. She was still upset when it came time to set off, so rather than travel with Kristoff, as he indicated he wanted, and risk lashing out at him, she decided to travel with Ciri instead. She hoped that talking with the younger girl would cheer her up, and telling her about Kristoff might let her know how to confront him about it without upsetting him too much. 

She would regret that decision before the day was out. It meant that she wasn’t with Kristoff when he arrived at the troll’s village. It meant that she wasn’t with him when he found their bodies.


	47. Hunting the Spirits: Kristoff - The Valley of Living Rock

“Hey guys, I’m home,” Kristoff called to the rocks all around him. “I know it’s been a while, but it’s me.” There was no reaction. Elsa, who had decided to travel with him when Anna declined, turned to him, looking puzzled. “Oh, right, they probably don’t recognize you.” Turning back to the small clearing that obscured the troll village, he called, “This is Elsa, you’ve met her before.”

“Hello,” Elsa said, to nowhere in particular, looking uncomfortable. There was still no response. Kristoff frowned and went over to a boulder he thought he recognized. He nudged it with his foot. No reaction.

“Um, Kristoff?” Elsa asked.

“Not who I thought it was.”

“Maybe they left?” Elsa suggested.

Kristoff shook his head. “Nah, they can’t. This valley sustains them, they can’t be away for long. They’ve gotta be around here somewhere.” He cupped his hands around his mouth. “Guys! It’s me, Kristoff! I’m home!” His words reverberated around the clearing, meeting his ears with an unsettling hollowness.

“Kristoff?” Elsa said, and she sounded worried now. Kristoff brushed it aside.

“They’re around. Can you look around, see if we can’t find them?” Without waiting for a response, he walked forward and poked around in the moss, searching for the hidden doors the trolls sometimes used.  _ That was the problem with moss, though _ , Kristoff thought as he searched.  _ Moss is always changing, I never could remember whose door was whose. _ He moved to another patch, seeing Elsa feeling along the rocks making up the sides of the small valley. A few minutes passed in silence as they both searched, and then-

“Oh. Oh  _ GOD! _ ” Elsa cried, and Kristoff heard retching and the sound of something liquid splattering across the damp ground.

“Elsa!” Kristoff shouted, bounding back towards her and drawing his blade. “Are you okay?” Elsa came into view. She was on her hands and knees, and a puddle of sick was pooling between her hands as her back heaved. She looked up as she heard him coming, her eyes bloodshot. There was a dark passage in the rock behind her. Kristoff darted towards it.

“No, Kristoff, don’t-” she tried to say, but it was too late. Kristoff stared into the passage, which turned out to be a shallow cave, still partially hidden by vines. At first, he didn’t quite understand what he was seeing. It looked like just a pile of mossy rocks sitting on the floor of the cave. But then Kristoff noticed something.

The first time he and Anna had met Olaf, he had been transfixed, not by the fact that there was a talking, sentient pile of snow and twigs in front of him, but by  _ how _ exactly he was able to function. He had no brain, but despite that, was capable of speech, movement, and complex reasoning. Not only that, he could control his limbs without even being in contact with them, as Kristoff’s cheek found out when he was examining Olaf’s arm. This fascination stemmed from his childhood with the trolls. Trolls had a strange biology, and defied most explanations for how they could possibly be rocks  _ and _ alive. The one explanation that worked was “magic”, but that wasn’t satisfying. But there was one thing that he had learned in his childhood. Trolls were made mostly of magically animated solid rock. But there was one part of them that was organic. Their eyes. For whatever reason, and whatever magic allowed the rock to merge with the eyes, a troll had eyes almost identical to a human’s.

It was this fact that at first puzzled Kristoff, and then made him realize the truth of what he was looking at. It was indeed a pile of stones. But it was also something else. He could see little white spots shining at him through the dark. Then, it clicked. Dozens of trolls lay dead on the floor of the cave, their rocky bodies smashed apart, their eyes glassy and unseeing. 

“Kristoff, come on,” Elsa said, and he could feel her tugging at his arm. He shook her off. He saw Soren’s bulky form sprawled across the smaller body of Pebble. He had died trying to protect the young troll. He saw Brock, his face contorted with pain. He saw Bulda, the troll that had taken him in, who had raised him, loved him as much as his real mother had loved him, given him a new family, not to replace the one he had lost, but to help him heal the holes in his heart. The grief that rose up in him was overwhelming. He had only experienced grief like this once before, and it was these trolls that had helped him then. 

“Kristoff, they haven’t been dead long, we need to go,” Elsa said again, and he could hear the urgency in her voice. But he couldn’t move. His heart felt like it had been constricted. His chest was tightening and he couldn’t get enough air. “Kristoff, please!” Elsa begged, and he turned to her. It took a moment to focus on her features. “Kristoff, we have to go. They could still be nearby.” He nodded, and with a last look into the cave, he followed Elsa at a run out of the Valley of Living Rock. Elsa threw up her hand, sending up a flurry of snowflakes, their signal to Gareth that something had gone wrong and they were to fall back to the rendezvous point. Shock, horror, grief, and rage swirled in Kristoff’s heart as he ran. He could feel it rising, threatening to sweep him up in its wake. Who would save him if it did?


	48. Hunting the Spirits: Elsa - Realization

Elsa’s legs burned. Her heart pounded. Her lungs cried out for more air. Sweat poured off her forehead and down her back. But she kept running. The rendezvous was only a mile from the Valley, but Elsa was going the whole distance at a near sprint, trying to escape what she had seen. The sight of the troll’s bodies would haunt her dreams for the rest of her life, she was sure of it. She had met them once, when she was just a girl of eight, when they had healed her sister of the fatal magic that afflicted her. She had offered many, many times as Queen to do something to repay them, but, communicating via Kristoff, they refused every offer, saying it was their honor to help the Queen and Princess of Arendelle. Now, she would never get the chance to repay them.

The rendezvous, a large birch tree, visible throughout most of the forest, loomed before her. She saw the Queensguard in a perimeter, their weapons at the ready, facing outward. Anna, Heins, Elsie, and Ciri sat together near the trunk, and they leapt to their feet when they saw Elsa and Kristoff sprinting down the path towards them.

“Elsa! Kristoff! What happened?” Anna shouted, concern and fear etched on her face. “Are you guys okay?”

Elsa collapsed, her legs giving out as she struggled to catch her breath. She saw Kristoff stride past her, straight for Anna with his blade out. Her eyes widened as he raised it, drawing back his arm. “Whoa, whoa!” she cried, and Heins pulled Anna aside as Kristoff swung, but he wasn’t aiming at her. His blade whistled through the air and chopped into the trunk of the birch tree.

“ARGHHHHHHH!!!” Kristoff roared, and there was so much pain and grief and anger in his voice that Elsa bit back a sob. Kristoff wrenched the sword out and then swung again, and again, and again. Anna was backing up, keeping both Ciri and Elsie behind her, her eyes wide and frightened. Heins was a safe distance away from Kristoff, watching him intently with his hand on his own blade.

“Elsa, what happened?” Anna hissed, as Kristoff continued his frenzied swings, but Elsa was too out of breath to respond. Chips of bark and trunk lay at Kristoff’s feet. With one more scream of rage and sorrow, he dropped his sword and fell to his knees. Elsa rolled onto her stomach and struggled to all fours, then to her feet. She stumbled towards Heins and collapsed against him, trembling. Anna took small, careful steps towards Kristoff.

“Kristoff?” she said. “What happened?”

“He- he killed them,” Kristoff muttered, his voice hoarse. Anna gasped in horror, clamping her hands over her mouth. “He killed them all.” Then he turned to face Anna, and Elsa saw his face, contorted with grief. “And it’s my fault,” he said.

“No it’s not,” Heins said at once, breaking away from Elsa.

“Heins?” she asked, but he was already crouching in front of Kristoff, pushing Anna out of the way and putting his hand on Kristoff’s shoulder. Anna moved back, looking offended, but her face took on an even more worried expression at the look on Heins’s face.

“No, it’s not, Kristoff,” Heins repeated, giving Kristoff’s shoulder a light shake. Elsa moved over next to Anna and took her hand. “Remember what you told me, at the Battle of Corona?” Kristoff stared up at him, almost through him. Elsa and Anna exchanged a puzzled glance. So she didn’t know what he meant either. “You told me that if I went down that path, it would take a long time to get off of it.” Elsa was even more confused. What path? Kristoff was still staring through Heins. Heins shook him, harder this time. “Come on, Kristoff. Snap out of it.”

Kristoff’s eyes fixed on Heins’s, and something in them seemed to clear. He blinked, then looked down. “Yeah, I hear you.”

“Good,” Heins said, satisfied. Leaving Kristoff on the ground, he came over to Elsa and Anna.

“What were you-” Anna started to ask, but Heins cut her off.

“Not now, and I don’t even know myself.” He turned to Elsa. “Why did you run in here like the devil was behind you?”

“They hadn’t been dead long,” Elsa said. “We were afraid whoever killed them might be close.” Heins nodded, then gave a short, sharp whistle. The Queensguard convened around him at once. “Listen up. The trolls are gone. Whoever did it may be nearby. We need to move, get somewhere defensible, preferably hidden. Ideas?”

“I don’t know why you’re asking them,” a flat voice said from behind Heins. They turned to see Kristoff climbing to his feet, picking up his sword. “They didn’t grow up here. I know a place. Follow me.” Without waiting for acknowledgement, he turned and walked into the woods. Elsa and Anna exchanged a troubled look, then followed.

Kristoff’s idea turned out to be a cave, about four miles from the Valley of Living Rock, which Elsa noted with a dull sort of nausea was now improperly named. Alan and Cari went in first, having to squeeze through the entrance one at a time. The rest of the group waited while they checked the interior, then streamed through when Alan announced it was all clear. When Elsa first stepped into the narrow entrance, all she could see were more tiny, rocky bodies, with unseeing eyes staring at her, but there was nothing in the cave. Heins came in after Elsa, looking around with a worried expression. “Kristoff, this is great, but if we are found, what keeps them from just starving us out?” Elsa had a sudden vision of herself, huddled against the wall, skeletal thin, the bodies of her family lying next to her. She shuddered. Luckily, Kristoff had an answer.

“See that wall?” he asked, pointing to the wall on the right side. “Tunnel into that, eh… fifteen feet? And you’ll come out in one of the largest cave systems in these mountains. There’s dozens of ways out through there.”

“How could we get through that much rock?” Heins asked. Without speaking, Elsa and Anna turned towards him and held up their hands. Elsa conjured a perfect snowball, and Anna made a flame dance from one finger to the other. “Oh, right,” Heins said, grinning sheepishly. “Steam bomb, thing. Got it.”

“This is mostly shale anyway,” Kristoff said, as the sisters dissipated their magic. “Wouldn’t even need magic, just a bit of time.” Kristoff trailed off, looking lost in his mind. An awkward silence fell in the cave. Ciri played with her hair, something she did not make a habit of, just to give herself something to do. Elsie was looking around, pretending to be fascinated by the plain stone around them. Alan and Cari shifted from one foot to the other, and Silas stood there, impassive as he always was. 

“So… what now?” Anna asked, her voice small and timid. 

“I don’t know,” Elsa said, trying to return to normalcy. “The trolls were our best lead for the Earth Temple.” She looked at Kristoff, who still looked like he was back in the Valley. “Kristoff,” she said sharply, hoping to snap him out of it. It seemed to work, and he looked at her. “You know this area. Do you know of anything that might be considered a temple to Titan?”

“How did they even find the trolls?” Kristoff muttured. Apparently it had not worked. “They keep to themselves, they’re fine for two years, and then as soon as we make our way towards them, Hans finds them and kills them?” He looked around at them all, his eyes wild with his grief. “How?”

Elsa had a horrible thought. Disparate events clicked into place. The missing food. The constant feeling of being watched. The odd twig snapping with no source. She had to act quickly, this was a perfect opportunity. She threw her hand out and blasted the entrance with her powers, filling it in with a solid foot of clear ice. “What are you doing, Elsa?” Anna cried. She had been standing near the entrance and had been pushed away by the rush of air.

“Shh. Everyone in the corner,” Elsa ordered, pointing to the narrowest part of the cave, opposite the entrance. Everyone looked around, confused. “Now!” Elsa said. The group went into the corner, but they stood with too much space between them. “No, closer. Pack in as tightly as you can.”

“Elsa, what-” Heins said, but she cut him off.

“Shut up, do it,” she shot back. “Anna closest to me.” The group huddled closer, looking both confused and slightly uncomfortable at being so close to one another. Elsa joined Anna at the front of the packed together Queensguard. With another sweeping wave of her hand, Elsa enclosed them all in a half cylinder of ice. There was only an inch between her and the smooth, cold surface. She could see the others already shivering, but Anna just looked at her. Questioning, but not mistrusting. Elsa leaned towards Anna and whispered into her ear. She pulled her head back and looked at Elsa, confused. Elsa nodded, and after a moment, so did Anna. 

Anna closed her eyes, a look of intense concentration etched on her face. Elsa knew while it was possible to use their magic without moving, it was much harder. It’s not that the motions released the magic, exactly, more that it gave them a way to channel and focus it. Anna’s face relaxed, and Elsa knew she had felt the click of her magic, and without further warning, the entire cave erupted into flames. For the briefest of moments, the only sounds that could be heard were the Queensguard’s surprised breathing, and the raging inferno outside of their shell. And then, Elsa heard what she had been hoping to hear- ear-splitting screams of agony.

Anna’s eyes flew open at the sound, and the flames receded. “Keep going, Anna!” Elsa shouted, and after the briefest of hesitations, Anna again chose to trust in her sister. She closed her eyes again and focused, doing her best to block out the shrieks of pain. The intensity of the flames grew and grew, to the point that Elsa had to pour energy into the shell to keep it intact. After a few moments, the screams stopped. Elsa let Anna continue on for another moment, then said, “Alright, Anna, that’s enough.” The flames died down, and, dropping the barrier over the entrance, Elsa used her magic to flurry much of the smoke out of the cave. Then she dismissed the ice wall and stepped away from the group. The smell of smoke, ash, and burnt flesh seared her nostrils.

“What the hell?” Heins said, stepping past Elsa. He was staring down at what looked like a man’s body, blackened beyond recognition. The hair had burned away, and his skin was a pockmarked checkerboard where some of the skin had peeled away as the rest charred. The rest of the Queensguard spread out, looking down at the body. Ciri was clasping a hand to her mouth, a look of horror on her face. The body’s face was contorted in a scream, bits of pink flesh in his mouth seeming to glow compared to the skin.

“How the hell did you guess that, Elsa?” Anna asked, stepping up next to her, looking stunned.

“Kristoff was right. They weren’t following us. They were ahead of us. How?” She indicated the body at her feet. “This one’s been with us since Weselton, I think. Invisible. Tracking us. Spying on us. He’s the one who stole the food before we got into Arendelle. And… he’s the one who told Hans where we’re going next.”

Ciri gaped at her. “But how did you know Hans could make people invisible?”

Elsa smiled at Ciri’s awed expression. “I didn’t. I don’t think he can, actually. I think that’s just his power. If Hans could make people invisible at will, I don’t think any of us would still be alive.”

Silas bent down to examine the body more closely. “Was this wise, Your Majesty? We cannot now question him, to find out what he’s shared with our enemies.”

Elsa nodded. “I know. But I didn’t want to risk his escape. How do you contain someone who can turn invisible? If he suspected we were onto him, I don’t know if we could have captured him. This seemed like the perfect opportunity. I just hoped that he had followed us into the cave.” Silas lowered his head, still seeming unsure, but choosing not to press the issue further. 

“Nice work,  _ Your Majesty _ ,” Kristoff said, his tone sharp and bitter. “Couldn’t have figured it out a bit earlier, could you? He probably caught up while you were having your god damn pity party-”

“Kristoff!” Anna cried, but Kristoff had already moved away. The rest of the Queensguard was looking at Kristoff with a mixture of surprise and offense. Elsa caught Anna’s hand as she went to follow him. She spun around, raising her eyebrows at Elsa. Kristoff sank onto the floor against the wall on the far side of the cave.

“It’s okay,” Elsa murmured, then pulled Anna closer. “He needs a target. Let him blame me,” she whispered into Anna’s ear.

“But-”

Elsa gave her a significant look. Anna’s shoulders slumped, and she nodded. Then she went to Kristoff’s side.

Ciri crept up to Elsa and slipped her hand in Elsa’s. “It’s not your fault, Elsa,” she said softly. Elsa looked at her with a gentle smile.

“Maybe. But it might help him, for now. We’re going to need him functional, soon. It’s easier if he has someone to blame other than himself.” Ciri smiled back, and Elsa looked around at the group. “Alright, we need to get rid of this thing,” she said, nudging the burned body.

“Silas, give me a hand,” Alan said, moving to pick up the man’s torso. “We’ll bury him.” Silas picked up his legs, and together, they managed to maneuver out of the cave. “Elsa, do you mind?” he called back in.

“Huh?” she asked, then it clicked. “Oh, right.” She flicked her wrist and, in the narrow slit of the outside she could see, created a pair of spades, which were snatched out of the air by Alan and Silas. Alan gave his thanks, and then Elsa could see them moving away. 

“Alright,” Elsa said. “The rest of you, over here.” She indicated the opposite side of the cave from Anna and Kristoff. Anna had her arms around Kristoff, who was sitting with his face in his hands. Anna perked up and gave Elsa a questioning look, but Elsa held up a hand. Anna nodded and settled back in, murmuring something to Kristoff. Kristoff needed Anna much more than Elsa just now.

“Alright,” Elsa said, once they had convened in a small circle. “Right now, we have the advantage. Hans thinks he knows where we are, and where we’re heading. What can we do with that? But before you answer, consider this: Because of the spy, Hans may already know where the Earth Temple is.” The Queensguard sat back, pensive expressions on their faces.

“What are our options?” Heins said. “We can look for the Earth Temple, try to beat him there, or change course for the Air Temple.”

“I don’t think we can afford to change course at this point,” Elsa said. “If he beats us to the Earth Temple, he might prevent us from acquiring Titan.” Elsa shook her head. “I have no idea what would happen if he did. But I don’t want to find out.” There was a murmur of agreement.

“Okay, so Earth Temple it is,” Heins relented, rubbing his hands over his face. “But how do we find it without the trolls?”

“The trolls may be gone,” Cari said, sitting forward, her hand on her chin. “But the information may not be, if the Empire found out first. We could try to get it that way. We have a couple of days, most likely, before Hans realizes his information’s out of date.” She glanced back at Kristoff, then turned back to the group. She dropped her voice, and everyone leaned forward to listen. “Think his guys-” she moved her head towards Kristoff- “could find out who knows?”

“Maybe,” Elsa mused, looking over at Kristoff. He had hardly moved, and Anna was now stroking his hair, whispering something to him. Elsa caught Anna’s eye and motioned to Kristoff. Anna tilted her head, and Elsa made an apologetic expression. Anna nodded, her face solemn, then whispered a bit more to Kristoff, who lifted his head. He looked like he had aged twenty years in the past ten minutes. He and Anna got to their feet and shuffled over, Anna under his arm, her head leaning against his chest.

“What?” Kristoff asked. His voice was flat and bitter. Elsa twitched her finger almost imperceptibly, sending a tiny burst of cold air towards Heins’s hand. She didn’t want Kristoff to have to speak to her just yet, if it could be helped. If his anger was directed at her, it wouldn’t turn inward, at least as long as it took for him to grieve. 

“We have an idea,” Heins said immediately, picking up Elsa’s nudge. “We think the Empire may have learned where the Earth Temple is, from-” he cut himself off, then continued, “Anyway, we think they might know where it is. Can your people in Arendelle find out if that’s true, and if so, who has the information?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.” Kristoff’s eyes were red and unfocused. He was still too lost in his sorrow. But they didn’t have enough time to let him find his own way out.  _ Well, there’s nothing else for it. _

“Kristoff,” Elsa said. His eyes locked onto hers, angry and accusing. She bore it gladly. “We don’t have time to mourn right now. We have a limited window of time. Can your people help us or not?”

“Yes, they can help,” Kristoff spat out. “I forgot Her Majesty is the only one who gets time.”

“Kristoff!” Anna said again, nudging him, but Elsa fixed him with an icy glare.

“So what if I am?” she said coldly.

“Elsa!” Anna cried, but Elsa ignored her, her eyes still boring into Kristoff’s.

“We have a job to do. Take Gareth and find out how we can find the Temple.” Kristoff shook off Anna and stormed to the narrow cave entrance. He shoved his way through so hard that flecks of the shale chipped off in his wake. Anna darted after him, and Elsa caught Heins’s arm when he went to intervene. “Let her go.”


	49. Hunting the Spirits: Anna - The Veil, Lifted

Anna and Kristoff sat side by side against a tree. Their hands were woven together. The serene beauty of the summer’s day was contrasted sharply by the stormcloud hovering over her husband. It gave a feeling of unreality to the scene- a feeling that two things were mixing that ought to never mix. Gareth had just flown off, having been filled in on the spy and the new plan. He was to check in with several of Kristoff’s contacts and return with the most likely destination, for now, all they could do was wait.

“Kristoff?” Anna said, apprehensive of how he might react. “I’m… really sorry-”

“It’s not your fault.” His voice was low and rough. Anna shook her head.

“No, I know. I’m sorry about… about this morning. I shouldn’t have been upset with you. I should have been with you, instead of Elsa.”

“Why were you even upset?” Anna hesitated. As usual, her mouth had gotten ahead of her brain- this was dangerous ground. But before she could decide what to say, Kristoff sighed. “Never mind. I know. You want to know about when I first met my f-family.” He struggled a bit with the word.

“Kristoff, it’s okay, you don’t have to-”

“It’s time you know.” Kristoff sighed. “The trolls… they weren’t my first family.” This was not news to Anna. She didn’t think he was actually a troll, after all. He thought for a moment, then corrected himself. “They weren’t the first family I knew.”

This, on the other hand,  _ was _ news to Anna. As far as she knew, Kristoff’s parents had died soon after he was born, and he was taken in by the ice harvesters, who provided him a safe, if rough and cold, childhood. When he noticed the King and Queen galloping by, leaving an icy trail in their wake, he followed them to the trolls, where he was “adopted” by Bulda. He continued learning the ice trade, living in the Valley of Living Rock, until the Great Freeze.

“What do you mean?” Anna asked. “Do you mean the ice harvesters?”

Kristoff shook his head slowly. “I mean my family. My mother. My father. And… my sister.” Anna’s mouth dropped open. Kristoff had a  _ sister? _

“Kristoff, what-”

“I was only a kid. I was seven, and Lilly… she was eleven.” Kristoff’s voice was breaking. He was having to force the words out, one at a time. It tore at Anna’s heart.

“Lilly?” Anna whispered, tears welling in her eyes.

“My sister.”

“What happened to them?” Anna hated herself for asking, but she had to know. She  _ had _ to.

“It was late. We got lost. There was a blizzard. We couldn’t see where we were going. We crossed into wildling territory.” Anna’s heart sank. The wildlings were not known for their hospitality to strangers. 

“What were you doing that far north?”

Kristoff let out a small huff of a humorless laugh. “I’m not even originally from Arendelle, Anna.” More revelations. How much of Kristoff’s past had been a lie? “My dad was telling me to

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, I didn't accidentally cut off the end of the chapter.


	50. Hunting the Spirits: Kristoff - Past

“Hang on!” Father shouted as they careened around the corner. Kristoff clutched onto the side of the sled as hard as he could, his stomach churning as he felt the right track lift into the air before it slammed back down, rattling his teeth together, sending jolts of pain through his head. His numb fingers lost their grip on the wooden slats and he crumpled to the floor. His skull collided with the hard, polished wood of the sled, and his closed eyes were suddenly full of shifting stars.

“Kristoff!” Mother cried, and Kristoff felt himself being picked up, Mother’s arms wrapping around him, protecting him from the bumps and bangs of the sled. He could hear the wildlings chasing them, could hear the arrows thudding into the wooden sled, could hear his father shouting, urging Sven to run faster. His eyelids felt heavy, but he pried them open. Something warm and sticky was flowing down his face, running into his right eye, stinging it back almost closed. Mother was huddled down over him, her face red and afraid. Lilly was crouched near Father, her golden hair streaming out behind her as her legs absorbed each heaving jolt of the sled. His father was bent low on the bench, snapping the reins, yanking Sven left or right to miss the trees flying by on either side. 

“Look out!” Lilly shouted, then Sven let out a horrible, high pitched scream. The sleigh bucked and jerked, then Kristoff heard the sound of snapping leather and crunching wood, and then Kristoff felt himself being wrenched out of Mother’s arms in a whirlwind of motion and pain. He was moving fast to the front of the sled. His dazed mind was wondering why he was going to the front of the sled so fast when his legs collided with the back of the bench, throwing them over his head. He experienced a nauseous feeling of weightlessness as he spun through the air, his vision blurry, his arms and legs out so that he was cartwheeling through the air, and he had just enough time to ponder how silly it must have looked, spinning through the air like a ballerina, and then he hit something cold and soft, and then everything was black. 

At first, he assumed he had died. Why else would everything have gone black, all at once? It was blackness he saw when he closed his eyes, after all, and didn’t dead people close their eyes? But then again, if he was dead, shouldn’t his legs not hurt so bad? Mother and Father sometimes told him that people died when things were too painful for them in life, so they died so they wouldn’t be in pain anymore. So maybe he wasn’t dead. He wiggled his fingers, and they seemed to respond, though he could not see them and could only barely feel them. He tried to move his legs, but they screamed in protest, so he stopped. He tried to move his arms, and found that he could, but that they didn’t  _ want _ to move, like they were moving through-

Oh. Right. Snow. Kristoff giggled. How silly he was. Of course it was snow, it’s not like he hadn’t seen it before. But he had gone far into a drift, and with how his head spun, he couldn’t tell which way was up in order to dig his way out. He closed his eyes, concentrating. What had Father said?

_ “Water always flows downhill, son.” _

_ “But Father, where would I get water if I’m buried in an avalanche? Should I try to melt snow with my hands?” Kristoff had learned that the key to making a perfect snowball lie in using your hands to melt the outside of it, so that it would refreeze even harder. _

_ Father shook his head. “No, never try to melt snow with your body heat. Takes more energy out of you than you’d get out of it. No, use your own water.” _

_ “You mean I should pee?” _

_ Father threw his head back and laughed. Kristoff didn’t really understand why, it seemed perfectly reasonable to him. “I guess that would work too,” Father said, wiping a tear from his eye and smiling at Kristoff. Kristoff lived to see that look, the crinkle around his eyes, framing the shine within them as he looked at his son. “But no,” he continued. He spit on the ground. “There’s another way we can make water.” _

_ “Blood?” _

_ Father stared at him. Kristoff looked back, feeling defensive, but then realized-  _

“Spit!” He pulled his hands back along the tunnels formed by his arms, then used them to scoop out a small area in front of his face. He spit into it, then cupped his hands around it. Soon, he felt it run onto his left hand. That meant that up was- “To the right.”

Now that he had a direction in mind, he was able to dig himself out of the snowbank, the only problem being his legs, which did not respond well to his mind’s commands. He now remembered them smashing into the bench, and it was lucky that he hadn’t broken them. He used his arms and pulled himself up, out of the snowbank. He had been around a foot deep. His head popped out of the snow, and he looked around, still a little dazed. Now that he was out, he could hear the wildlings nearby. He saw the sled, smashed to pieces, lying on its side around twenty feet away from him. They had gone off a small cliff, but from the looks of the torches and the excited cries of the wildlings getting closer, they had begun making their way down towards Kristoff.

“Mother!” Kristoff whispered. His mother lay face down in the snow, only a few feet from him. He crawled over to her as fast as he could while staying quiet. He could see the bobbing torches getting closer. “Mother, get up, we need to go!” He shook her, but she didn’t lift her head. He shook her harder. “Come on, Mother, we have to find Lilly and Father. Come on!” He grabbed her shoulder and pulled with all his might, and Mother rolled onto her back-

Kristoff gasped and scrambled backwards. Mother’s face was gone. In its place was a horrible mess of red and gray. Her lower jaw was held in place by nothing but a few stringy chunks of meat. He could see white bone shining through the skin on her head. Her blonde hair stuck to what was left of her face, coated in blood. Kristoff stared at her, not seeing- no, seeing, but not comprehending- no, comprehending, but not wanting to comprehend. His mouth worked soundlessly, open and closed, open and closed. A scream bubbled in his throat, growing larger as he gasped for air. His vision narrowed, until all the world was that smashed pile of gristle and tissue, the raw flesh that was once his mother- 

“Over here, Father!” Kristoff heard someone whisper from behind him. He turned around to see Lilly, bent low, her green eyes shining from her pale face. Somehow, she didn’t look scared, and that made Kristoff less scared, too. Kristoff could see Father coming towards her, weaving through the underbrush with the practiced movements of a lifelong woodsman. 

“Kristoff, are you hurt?” he whispered.

“M-mother-” Kristoff cried, too loudly. His father clapped a hand over his mouth. His eyes were full of grief and anger. 

“I know, son. I know. We have to go. Are you hurt?”

He removed his hand, and Kristoff stammered out, “M-my legs hurt.”

He nodded and scooped Kristoff up. “Follow close, Lilly.” She nodded, her eyes bright and determined. Father started to move away, but then-

“Tam są! Tam są! Zdobądź je!”

The wildlings had seen them. Father burst into a run, Lilly pounding along after him, her cheeks flushed. Kristoff watched over his father’s shoulder, terrified, at the torches spreading out, closing in from behind, coming up alongside them-  _ like wolves _ , Kristoff thought. His father’s breathing was becoming more and more labored as he charged through the snow, and the torches got closer and closer-

Father slammed to a stop, so suddenly that Lilly ran into him, bouncing off with a cry of surprise. Kristoff felt himself being dumped onto the ground, but to his surprise, found that his legs could hold him.

“Father, what-” Lilly began, but Father interrupted.

“Lilly, you take your brother and  _ run _ .”

“But-” Lilly yelped.

“No-” Kristoff protested.

“Do as I say,” Father ordered. He put one hand on each of their shoulders. “I love you both very much. Now RUN!” Father turned around and ran back, towards the torches. Kristoff went to follow Father, but Lilly wrenched his arm back. Before he could do anything, she was dragging him away.

“Lilly, what are you doing?” Kristoff cried. “We can’t just leave him!”

“We have to!” she gasped back. Tear tracks stained her face.

“But-”

“Do as I say! Do as Father said!  _ Do it _ , Kristoff!”

Kristoff did. He ran, and ran, and ran, clutching his sister’s hand as they heard wildlings begin to scream, the clash of combat, over much too quickly. Then the silence.

* * *

Anna’s eyes shone with tears. Kristoff took several deep breaths, trying to stem his own. He had not talked about Mother, Father, or Lilly in twenty years. But he could still see his mother’s ruined body. Hear his father’s final screams. See Lilly’s terrified, but determined, face, binding Kristoff to reality, comforting him, enabling him to go on when his mind was screaming at him to shut down. 

“Kristoff… I-”

Whatever Anna was about to say was lost before it reached her lips, as Gareth’s eagle flared and perched on the stump in front of them. Anna looked down, trying to hide her tears. Kristoff wiped his eyes hurriedly as Gareth shifted back to human. He looked back and forth between the two of them.

“Um… Am I intruding on something?”

“No,” Kristoff said at once. 

“Ah.” Gareth fidgeted with his hands, then said, “The most likely location is the village of Dair. It’s-”

“I know where it is. Go tell the others to meet us there. Lead them, I can take care of us.”

“Understood.” Within seconds, the eagle took flight. Kristoff couldn’t help but smile. He had never seen Gareth so thrown before.

Anna caught his eye, and they shared a shaky, nervous giggle. Kristoff stood and helped Anna up, who wiped her eyes and brushed off the seat of her pants. Kristoff gestured in the direction of Dair, and they set off.

“So, where was I? Oh, right-”

“You don’t have to, Kristoff. I never should have made you-”

“No, Anna. It’s okay. I feel… I feel like now that I’ve started, I have to finish. Like… it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t.”

“Okay,” Anna whispered. She slipped her hand into his.

“Anyway, what was I saying? Oh yeah, we were

* * *

running through what seemed like an endless forest in an infinite night. They could not see the torches anymore, they could not hear the feral cries of the wildlings on the hunt. But neither Kristoff nor Lilly wanted to stop. They did not know where they were going, and they did not know if they would survive the cold and the forest much longer. But they knew if they stopped, the wildlings would find them. So they ran. 

Behind every tree lurched Mother, her face dripping and oozing blood and brain onto her dress. Out of every shadow came Father, his body hacked to pieces by the wildlings’ jagged blades. And all around them loomed the wildlings, ever present, ever hunting. The blood on Kristoff’s face had become stiff and pokey.

Lilly dug in her heels and slid to a stop, leaving long tracks in the snow. Kristoff felt his arm get yanked backwards, and he almost fell, thinking that his fears had come true, and Mother and Father had returned to bring their children with them to wherever people went after they died, but Lilly caught him. 

“Lilly?” His voice trembled.

Lilly was craning her neck around, squinting into the night. “Is that light, over there?” She pointed. Kristoff peered through the trees, trying to see through the snow and the dark. And then, in one particular spot, one precise angle, he could see the faintest shine of light through a maze of twisted trees and branches.

“It is!” Kristoff said, excited, but then his face fell. “But what if it’s wildlings…”

Lilly knelt down and took Kristoff’s shoulders. “Kristoff…. We don’t have a choice. If we stay out here much longer, we’ll die.”

“Lilly, I’m scared,” Kristoff whimpered. 

Lilly pulled him forward and wrapped him in a tight hug. “I know,” she whispered. “But don’t worry, Kristoff. I’ll protect you.”

And Kristoff felt better. His sister had always looked out for him. She protected him. As long as she was around, it would be okay. Their hands clasped together, they crept towards the light.

As they got closer, Kristoff could see that it was more than just a light; it was a house- not quite a house, maybe, but a shack at least. Light spilled out of a crooked window, and a warped wooden door was shut tight against the wind. Lilly leading the way, they snuck towards the shack, staying well out of the light, until they were pressed up against the wall beneath the window.

Lilly raised her head just enough to peek in, while Kristoff stayed crouched, shaking with cold, or fear, or most likely, both. He saw her eyes sweep the room, then she crouched down again.

“It’s empty,” she whispered. “Come on.” She tried to move away, but Kristoff pulled her back by the hand.

“What if they come back?”

She looked at him, gazing deep into his eyes. “Kristoff… I need you to be brave. I know you’re scared, but please, do as I say. I will protect you, I promise.” She reached behind her back and took something off her belt. It was the knife Father had given her for her birthday last year. “Now follow me.”

Kristoff followed.

The shack was just that- a shack. It looked like no more than an outpost, a small building to shelter supplies from the wind when the owners were far from home. They found torches, furs, winter boots, ice picks, axes- all things an ordinary woodsman might have. But they also found bones, pieces of skin, skulls carved with jagged patterns, necklaces of teeth. It was a wildling shack. Kristoff stared at the necklaces, at the skulls. Is that what would happen to Mother and Father? Is that what would happen to  _ him? _ Bile rose in his throat, and before he could even think about trying to force it back down, he emptied the contents of his stomach into the corner of the shack. He saw Lilly looking at him, concerned, but she didn’t speak. She too was taking in their surroundings with an expression of horror and revulsion.

“I’m going to try to find a map,” Lilly said. “Keep an eye out. Let me know if you see anyone.” Kristoff wiped his mouth and nodded, pulling a stool over to the window, so that he could see, and peering out. He couldn’t see very far. The light had ruined his night vision, and the blizzard seemed to be only getting stronger. The wind howled, rattling the walls of the shack, and the teeth on the necklaces clacked together in a way that made Kristoff’s skin crawl.

“I found one!” Lilly announced. Kristoff turned to see her pulling out a large piece of parchment from under the assorted horrible trinkets on top of them, then spreading the map out on the floor. It was not written in a language either of them understood, but it was not labeled extensively anyway. Lilly’s tongue stuck out between her teeth as she pored over the map, her finger running over each area as she examined first the compass, then the rivers, then the mountains, and finally, the labels, trying to divine their meanings from context, but didn’t seem to be having much luck. 

“Okay, I think this is us,” she muttered, pointing to a spot on the map marked Placówka. “Which means, to get out of here, we need to follow this river east-” she traced the winding river with her finger- “then go south from this landmark-” her finger tapped a sketch of a distinctive looking rock, with two large protrusions on top of it- “and keep going. That should get us out of wildling land. Then we can-” she glanced up at Kristoff- “KRISTOFF!” she hissed.

Kristoff whirled around. He had forgotten to keep watch, having been lost in watching his sister work out a plan. Two men were just about to open the door to the shack, but it seemed like they had not yet seen the siblings.

The door swung open and the first of the pair stepped through. He froze mid-stride, his eyes darting back and forth between Kristoff and Lilly. “Co kurwa?” the man said, a look of shock on his face.

“AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!” Lilly let out a scream and charged forward, both hands clutching something silver. She jumped at the man, shoving her hands forward into his stomach, and Kristoff caught a flash of gleaming metal before it disappeared into the furs. The man stumbled backward into the other, but Lilly kept coming, her hand flying back and forward, the silver of the knife now stained with deep red. Blood stained Lilly’s hands and splattered across her face, striking rivers of crimson against the porcelain skin, which was twisted into a snarl. The man finally fell, but the other was not so slow to react. He aimed a punch at Lilly, who was not able to dodge in time. His fist collided with the side of her head, the knife falling from her slackened grip and clattering to the floor. Blood dripped from its blade and spread across the wood. Lilly reeled backward, then stumbled and fell, her eyes unfocused. 

“Głupia suka!” the man snarled, then he knelt on her chest and wrapped his hands around her throat. Her eyes widened in panic and she scratched at him with weak fingers, her legs kicking hard, but to no avail, her assailant was too big and strong. The man had not even noticed Kristoff! The knife was right there! This was his chance! So why wasn’t he moving?

He wanted to. His sister was struggling weaker. He had to do something, but it was like a mist had descended over his brain, clouding his thoughts, muddying his intentions. Lilly’s eyes were becoming bloodshot, and they looked around in a slowing panic, finally coming to rest on his own.

The fog lifted as her fading eyes bored into his. His mind cleared, then focused to a razor’s edge.  _ Lilly’s in trouble. Do what must be done _ . He leapt off the stool, landing near the knife. He snatched it up and sprinted forward, taking a running leap and landing on the man’s back, gripping the back of his furs with his free hand as tightly as he could. The man let out a cry of surprise, then Kristoff stabbed downward with all his might. He felt the initial resistance of the furs give way as the knife slid through the layers, then the tougher resistance of the man’s muscle, before that too parted for the knife’s keen edge. He yanked the blade out, making sure to draw down as he did, to deepen the cut. He heard Lilly coughing, and knew the man had released her. He tried to stagger to his feet, but Kristoff drove the knife into him again, and again, and again. The man collapsed forward, and Kristoff was barely aware of his sister rolling out of the way in the nick of time, and he stabbed down again, blood coating his hands and splashing onto his face, and he stabbed again, and again, and again, and again-  _ Kristoff! _ -and again and again and again-  _ Kristoff!! _ \- and again and again and again and again-

“Kristoff!” Something pulled him away, and he struggled mindlessly for a moment as something turned him roughly away from his prey-

Kristoff stared at his sister, her hands on his shoulders, her wavy golden-blonde hair, her piercing green eyes, which were wide and brimming with tears, shining bright through the crimson staining her pale skin. “Kristoff?” Lilly whispered. Kristoff burst into tears, the knife falling from his numb hands. She took him into her arms, hugging him as he cried. “Thank you for saving me,” she croaked- her voice was nearly gone. He cried harder, hugging her back as tight as he could.

After Kristoff had calmed down, he and Lilly gathered as many supplies as they could and set off into the night, afraid of more wildlings coming by the shack.

* * *

“Oh, Kristoff,” Anna moaned. They had abandoned the hand holding in favor of Anna clinging to his side. It made walking a little more difficult, but Kristoff was reassured by her presence, so he damn sure wasn’t going to complain.

“Yeah,” he said, unsure of how else to respond. “That was- that was the first time I killed someone.”

“It was self-defense, though,” Anna said at once.

Kristoff sighed. “That one was.”

“What do you… oh.” Kristoff felt Anna hold on to him a little tighter after that.

“So once we left the shack, we followed the path Lilly had found,” Kristoff continued. “She had done a good job. She always was good with directions….” He trailed off as a dark thought came to him. Had she even lived long enough to be “always” anything? He swallowed and tried to push the unpleasant idea aside. “The shack had enough food for a few days, at least for us kids, and we had practically grown up in the woods already, so the trip wasn’t even too bad. It was… almost fun. Whenever I got too upset about Mother and Father, Lilly was there to cheer me up. She was really good at that, even though she must have been just as upset…” His voice broke, and he continued quickly to cover it. “We kept an eye out, but we never saw any more wildlings.”

“That’s good, I suppose,” Anna muttered, and Kristoff smiled, kissing the top of her head. His Anna, the real Anna, the bright-side-seeking ever-optimistic, was returning to him, one bit at a time. 

“It took two days, but eventually we made our way out of wildling territory and back to civilization. We thought it couldn’t get much worse. We were so wrong.”

“Where did you go?”

“The village of

* * *

Fulbeck,” Lilly said. “It’s only a mile or two that way, according to them, anyway.” She waved at the friendly-faced young couple they had passed on the road, who waved back as they departed. Kristoff was sat on the cold ground, his legs seeming to be little more than two giant bruises sticking out of his torso. Lilly plopped onto the ground next to him, giving him a sympathetic look. “Legs still hurt?” Kristoff nodded. “It’s okay. We can stay here a bit.” She reached into a bag they had taken from the shack and pulled out two strips of jerky. She handed one to Kristoff, who mumbled his thanks and bit into it. It was tough and tasteless, but it was food. 

“It still doesn’t seem real,” Kristoff muttered as he chewed.

Lilly put her arm around him. “I know. I miss them.” She gave him a little squeeze. “But we have each other. As long as we have each other, we’ll be okay.”

Kristoff smiled at her. “Thanks, Lilly.”

“Anytime, little brother.” She smiled back and ruffled his hair. He used to pretend to hate when she did that, but now, he cherished the tenderness and love in her touch. She was right. They could get through anything. Together. 

When they finished the jerky, Lilly stood up, then pulled Kristoff to his feet. He winced as his legs took his weight, but gritted his teeth and bore the pain. Lilly’s throat and face were still bruised, a mottled swirl of black and purple, and her voice was still hoarse, but she wasn’t complaining. He wouldn’t either.

They wandered into Fulbeck around an hour later. It didn’t take long for a concerned-looking old woman with her graying hair in a tight bun to notice them either, Kristoff limping, Lilly with her face and neck bruised, and offer them a place to stay, in a house on the outskirts of town. They accepted gratefully, and they stayed with the woman, whose name turned out to be Frigga, for the night. Her own children had moved out long ago, and she said she was thrilled to have company. 

The next day, while Frigga was out, Kristoff was sitting on the living room floor, playing with a stuffed reindeer Frigga said once belonged to her son, and Lilly was curled up in the armchair, absorbed in a book about magic and monsters, drinking tea. She liked reading about those types of things, and while Kristoff could read fine, thanks to Mother, he much preferred to listen to Lilly tell him the stories afterwards. She did the best voices for all the characters, and somehow always managed to remember the story without flaw- or at least, flawless enough for Kristoff not to notice if she made some things up. He loved her versions either way, even the time she didn’t realize how scary the story was and Kristoff ended up sleeping in her room that night, curled up against her after she promised she’d beat up any monsters that came to get him.

There was a loud crash that made both of them jump. Kristoff lost his grip on his reindeer, and Lilly knocked over the cup of tea on the end table, then four armed men streamed into the house.

Lilly jumped to her feet and stood in front of Kristoff, her arms spread out, sheltering him while he cowered behind her. “Who are you?” she demanded. “What do you want?” They offered no response. Two of them marched over to her and grabbed her arms, pulling her away. “NO!” she screamed, thrashing about with all her might, her hair flying this way and that as she struggled to break their grip. “LET ME GO! KRISTOFF, RUN!”

Kristoff tried, but he didn’t make it far. He bolted for the window, but the other two men were on him in an instant. He felt them grab him, felt them twist his arms behind his back, felt his hands being bound, and then a dark bag was forced over his head. He screamed in terror, but then he felt something hit him hard in the stomach, forcing out his air, reducing his screams to a wheeze. He felt himself being carried, then shoved into what felt like the back of a wagon, which rumbled off down the street. He felt someone shifting beside him.

“Lilly?” he whispered.

“Kristoff! Are you okay?” Hearing his sister’s voice spread relief through Kristoff’s entire body; it was like letting out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding.

“I think so. What’s happening!?”

“I don’t know. Try to stay calm for me, okay?” Her voice trembled, and that made Kristoff even more afraid.  _ She needs you to be brave now. Be brave for her. _

“I’ll try.”

The wagon bumped and rolled, and then it stopped. Kristoff could hear muttered voices coming from all around them, and he couldn’t be sure, but he thought they sounded excited. 

They were handed down to others off the sled, and then shoved along the cold street, and then hard stone. “Stairs,” someone grunted from behind Kristoff, just as his foot fell through the floor- or seemed to. He caught himself just in time, then nearly tripped three more times down the short staircase because his captor kept bumping into him.

The bag was ripped off his head, and he had just enough time to see the open cell in front of him before he was shoved into it. The iron door slammed shut behind him. He turned around to see a man sliding a key into the lock, twisting it, then removing it and walking away, back the way they came. Kristoff ran to the cell door and tried to poke his head out, but it wouldn’t fit.

“Wait! Where’s my sister!”

“Kristoff, I’m here,” Lilly’s voice floated from the cell next to him.

“Lilly! Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

“What’s going on?!”

“I don’t know. Try not to cry. I’ll get us out of this, I promise.”

“You promise?” Kristoff asked, wiping his nose.

“I promise. Just… give me a little bit, okay?”

“Okay…” Not knowing what else to do, Kristoff sat with his back against the wall he shared with his sister and rested his head against it, eyes closed, trying to calm his mind. Whatever was happening, they were still safe. The men who had taken them weren’t wildlings. They were in what looked like a jail. For what crime, Kristoff didn’t know.  _ Is being an orphan a crime? _ Kristoff thought, fear shooting through his body. He didn’t  _ want _ to be an orphan, or a criminal. 

He didn’t have long to wait. The same man who had shoved him into the cell came back to retrieve him. He looked angry, almost disgusted with Kristoff, but Kristoff still didn’t know why. He had met orphans before; he wasn’t this angry at them. “Come with me,” the guard said in a rough voice, opening the door for Kristoff. He stepped through and saw Lilly coming out of her cell, another man in front of her.

“Lilly!” he cried, trying to run to her, but his captor caught him by the collar and yanked him back, choking him.

“Kristoff, don’t, just do as they say.” Kristoff glared up at his captor, but the man just laughed..

“Move,” he said, shoving Kristoff forward. The two guards led the siblings up the stairs and down a hallway, then into a small room on the right side. An unpleasant looking man in glasses, well dressed with short black hair and a pointy goatee, sat behind a desk. “Have a seat,” he said, gesturing to two chairs in front of his desk, not looking up from what he was writing. Kristoff exchanged a look with Lilly, but they did as they were asked.

“Excuse me, sir-”

“One moment.” He held up a finger to silence Lilly, then signed the paper with a flowery looking signature. He set it aside and looked up at them. “I’m Duke of Fulbeck. Now, you know why you are here-”

“No, sir,” Lilly interjected, in her grownup voice she used sometimes when Father had visitors.

“No?” he repeated, taking off his glasses and setting them aside, leaning forward, examining Lilly. “No, you don’t know why you are here?”

“Correct, sir.”

“You were apprehended red-handed having broken into one Frigga Helmundsdottir’s home.”

“Oh,” Lilly said, a relieved smile spreading across her face. “We hadn’t broken in, sir, you see, we were invited in. We-”

“You say you were invited in?”

Lilly nodded, still smiling. “Yes, sir. This is all just a misunderstanding-”

“Miss Helmundsdottir?” The door opened, and Frigga walked in, crying, and Kristoff was touched to see how much Frigga cared for them already. “These two claim you invited them in. Is that true?”

Kristoff and Lilly both turned expectantly to Frigga, waiting for her to confirm it and clear this whole thing up.

“I’ve never seen these children before in my life,” Frigga said, looking directly at them, first at Lilly, then Kristoff. Lilly’s mouth fell open, and so did Kristoff’s.

“What? Yes you have!” Lilly protested. “You invited us to stay with you!”

“Is this them, Your Grace?” she asked the Duke, and though she was still sobbing and covering her face, Kristoff didn’t see any tears. “Are these the ones that took my baby boy?”

“I’m afraid so, Miss Helmundsdottir. You can rest easy, and so can your son.”

Kristoff didn’t understand what was happening. Why was Frigga pretending to cry? Why would she say she didn’t know them? Of course she did! Lilly didn’t understand either.

“Wait, what is happening?” Lilly cried.

“You can go, Miss Helmundsdottir,” the Duke said, and Frigga nodded, still acting like she was crying, and left the room. Lilly turned back to the man.

“What is going on?” she said, her cheeks aflame with anger and indignation. “She’s lying! She invited us in!”

The Duke’s stare turned icy. “Miss Helmundsdottir’s son was killed early this morning, by many stab wounds. She discovered his body and ran here to inform me. I sent guards to her home, who found you, at the scene of the crime, rifling through her belongings, in possession of the murder weapon, a knife with blood staining the handle.”

Lilly gaped. Kristoff put his head in his hands, trying to keep up with what was going on. “She’s lying!” Lilly shouted. “Our parents  _ died _ two days ago! We had nowhere to go! She took us in!  _ SHE  _ did!”

The Duke raised his eyebrows at Lilly. “So you claim that she invited you in, and then you killed her son?”

“No! We didn’t kill anyone!”

“Oh? Then whose blood is on the knife?”

“It-it’s animal blood.”

The Duke laughed. “My child, do you really think I can’t tell the difference between a hunting knife and a knife like yours?”

“It’s wildling blood!” Kristoff shouted, his anger flaring. He still didn’t feel like he understood everything, but he understood that if they did not escape this situation soon, they never would.

“Wildling blood, you say?” The Duke ran a hand over his goatee. “Awfully convenient. Hard to prove that.”

“Hard to prove we did anything wrong,” Lilly shot back. “We were just trying to get somewhere safe. That’s all.”

The Duke’s face softened. “I understand,” he said, and Kristoff smiled. He understood! It was going to be okay! “You’re right, it is hard to prove,” he continued as he stood up, moved around the desk, and sat down on it, facing them. “Justice is swift in my town, but not unreasonable. I will have my investigators find the truth. If it is as you say, then you will of course be released.” He looked at Kristoff. “Where did you say the wildlings were? So that we may find the truth you speak of?”

He had asked Kristoff, but Lilly answered. “Do you have a map of the area?” The Duke smiled and went to another small desk against the wall. He rummaged through it, then pulled out a large map. He lay it on the desk. Lilly made to move forward, then hesitated before rising. “May I?” she asked courteously.

“Please do,” the Duke said, gesturing. “You are very polite, young lady.” She beamed. It was clear she felt better too. She moved to the desk and peered down at the map. It took her only a moment to orient herself, then Kristoff saw her finger trace the road, then to the strange rock, then along the river, to-

“There,” she announced, pointing. “It’s a small shack. The bodies are inside.” She frowned, shifting her weight guiltily. “Um… we wouldn’t get in trouble for that, would we?” 

“Of course not,” the Duke said. “I have to deal with wildling attacks all the time. I’m sure it was self-defense, as you say.”

“Oh good,” Lilly sighed. “You’ll find the shack there.”

“Thank you for your help, young lady, young master,” the Duke said, gathering up the map once more. “I will have men sent out there today. Now, about the rest- I’m afraid I will have to keep you here for now. It should be just for tonight,” he said quickly, to stem Lilly’s protest. “But I cannot allow you to leave until I’ve found the truth. Surely a bright young girl like you understands, right?”

“I-I guess…” Lilly said. Something seemed to be bothering her, she looked uneasy. The Duke put a comforting hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him.

“Do not worry, it will all be okay. Go get some rest, and tomorrow, we can put this all behind us.”

“O-okay.”

* * *

“But why would Frigga lie?” Anna said, sounding infuriated. The pain of reliving the story was offset- not by much, but some- by the grim amusement he gleaned from seeing someone’s reactions as he told it. He had never told anyone this- not even the trolls. They had only helped to wash the blood from his hands. They never knew how it got there.

“You hadn’t guessed?” Kristoff asked, as they came to a fork in the path. After a quick consultation of the sun, they set off along the left one.

Recognition dawned on Anna’s face. “ _ She _ killed her son! Then framed you and Lilly for it!”

“Yes. She was the luckiest person in all the world the day we stumbled across her. And we were the unluckiest,” he finished, spitting on the ground. The injustice of it all still stung, all these years later. 

“What a  _ bitch! _ ” It was an unexpected, yet accurate, assessment, and Kristoff couldn’t help but smile. He didn’t understand how, but it was like Anna was smoothing the rough edges of his memory. Frigga’s face had always been a spiky, painful part of his mind, but when she turned up in his thoughts, he could now have Anna’s amusing reaction to help temper the pain.

“Might be an understatement.”

“But I don’t understand. If the Duke was going to investigate, wouldn’t they have found out the truth?”

Kristoff held her a little closer for a moment. “I see you’re getting your optimism back.”

She laid her head on his shoulder, then asked, “So what happened? He lied too?”

“He did. Didn’t you notice?”

“Notice what?”

“It took us two days to get out of wildling country. He said he’d have people there that same day.” 

Anna’s jaw dropped, and her eyes alighted with fury. “ _ Why? _ ”

“Who knows?” Kristoff said, shrugging. “Money? Frigga’s house was pretty big, maybe she paid him? Or maybe he just didn’t care about the truth as long as he had someone to pin the crime on. A murder in his town doesn’t look good, and if he can tell everyone that some evil outsiders did it, now he looks like a noble defender. There’s tons of reasons I’ve thought of over the years. I don’t know if any of them are true...” He took a deep breath. This would be the worst part to try to tell. “When we left the courthouse the next day, we saw the

* * *

gallows that were set up in the middle of town. A crowd gathered around it. The Duke stood on the raised platform, alongside a man wearing a black hood. Two nooses hung from the pole. As soon as they came into view, terror gripped Kristoff’s heart. He knew who those were for. The man behind him tightened his grip on Kristoff as Kristoff began to scream and thrash around. In front of him, Lilly was doing the same.

“Stop them!” she was screaming at the crowd. “Don’t let them do this!” All Kristoff could see in response were jeering faces. The crowd parted to let them through, their bloodlust whipping the crowd into a frenzy. The four of them- Lilly, Kristoff, and the two men shoving them roughly along- arrived at the steps leading up to the gallows, and their deaths. Lilly was shoved up the stairs first, but once she got to the top, she threw herself back towards the steps. The back of her head collided with her guard’s nose, breaking it and sending him staggering backward. His heels swung off the steps and hit Kristoff, which made him lose his balance completely. Kristoff felt his guard’s grip loosen as his comrade came plummeting toward him, and Kristoff twisted free as the two guards tumbled down the stairs.

“KRISTOFF, RUN!” Lilly screamed. She ran and leapt off the gallows, landing hard on the guards, stomping on every bit of them she could reach, keeping them staggered and tangled up in each other’s limbs. “GO!” Kristoff jumped off the side of the stairs, landed, then bolted into the crowd. He could feel hands clutching at him, trying to catch him, but the furs he wore, his speed, his small size- no one could get a hold of him. He sped through the crowd until it thinned enough for him to see his way out. He sprinted towards the edge of the village before the people nearest him had realized who he was and what was happening. His eyes darted around, trying to see if Lilly had made it. His heart stopped.

Lilly hadn’t gotten away. She was on the gallows. The noose was around her neck. She saw him, saw him look back, saw him hesitate, saw him move towards her. “NO!” she screamed. “STAY ALIVE! I LOVE-” The trapdoor opened.

* * *

“Oh my god, Kristoff,” Anna sobbed. They had given up on trying to walk when Kristoff started crying so hard he couldn’t breathe.They huddled together at the foot of a tree, Anna holding Kristoff while he clutched at her arms. The pain was so raw, so fresh. He was ashamed he had gone so long without thinking of Lilly, the way her green eyes had bulged with terror and pain, the way she kicked, the way her golden hair kept flowing in the breeze long after the rest of her was still. He had lived, and she had not. Had her sacrifice meant so little to him that he couldn’t spare a thought for his big sister once in a while?

After what felt like an eternity, Kristoff began to calm down. His breath wasn’t coming in such short gasps, and his tears had slowed. “You would have liked her, I think,” Kristoff croaked. His throat didn’t want to make sounds anymore. “I wish… I wish you could have met her.”

“I think I would have,” Anna whispered, wiping her eyes.

“I’m sorry I never told you-”

“Shut up, Kristoff,” Anna scolded at once, giving him a light smack. “I n-” she choked on the words. “I’m sorry I w-was never able t-to be there for you.”

“You didn’t know,” Kristoff sighed, closing his eyes. They stung with tears, and it felt good to close them. “A-after sh… she d-d-d-” He couldn’t finish the word. “A-after, I hid in the woods. I was

* * *

more distraught than he had ever been in his life. There was no word strong enough for the feeling. His breath came in ragged gasps, his stomach churned. He vomited twice, his stomach acid burning his throat, and retched thrice more. He had to get away. Lilly had used her last words to tell him to live. And he would. He ran through the woods, leaping over logs and snaking through trees, the branches and brambles carving bloody lines across his skin, the pain reminding him- 

And then he stopped. He stood there, perfectly still. Even his breathing slowed down. The shock and horror and grief that had consumed him was fading- no, not fading, being replaced. A feeling of anger, more potent than any emotion he had ever experienced, was rising. A feeling of injustice. A feeling of  _ vengeance _ . He would live. For Lilly. But first, those that had hurt him, that had taken his big sister away from him, stolen away her life when she had so much more left to live, would die. For Lilly. He looked back the way he had come, He had not been careful about his tracks, and he could see a clear line to himself through the woods. He would use that now. Father taught him many things. For as long as Kristoff could remember, the woods had been his home, more so than the log hut they slept in. Kristoff slept there because it was convenient. Because he loved his family, and wanted to be close to them. But  _ this _ , this was his true home. And he would defend it. He got to work, knowing he didn’t have long before the guards came.

The first guard arrived less than an hour later. It was all too easy to get him to fall into Kristoff’s trap. Kristoff sat in plain sight at the end of his tracks, in the middle of a small ravine. The guard saw him and cried out, and Kristoff bolted, playing the part of the frightened child. The guard never saw the hole Kristoff had dug on the other side of a log, and as expected, the man jumped over the log at a run. His leg, instead of landing on solid ground, landed on a lattice of thin sticks covered with leaves and snow. It broke as soon as he touched it, plunging his leg up to the knee into the ground. His momentum carried him forward, and Kristoff heard the awful  _ CRACK _ of the man’s leg. As the man screamed in pain, Kristoff doubled back and clambered up the side of the ravine. He ran back along its lip to the boulder he had noticed earlier. The guard never saw it coming. With a large stick and a log for leverage, Kristoff heaved the boulder off the edge of the ravine. It thumped twice on the steep sides, gathering speed, then, with an awful crunch, the guard’s screams stopped.

Kristoff slid down the side, down to the guard’s body. The boulder had crushed his head, and other than a brief vision of his mother’s face, Kristoff couldn’t have cared less for the man’s death. He rummaged through the guard’s belongings. He left the sword, it was much too big for him, but he did take a dagger from his boot. Now he had a weapon. He took a key out of his pocket as well, though he didn’t know what it went to. Kristoff darted away.

Now that he was calmer, it was easy to disguise his tracks. He took a long, circular path back to town, arriving at the outskirts of Fulbeck by dark, even with the time for his further preparations he required a knife for. The streets were deserted in the night. Lilly’s body still swayed, silhouetted in the starlight, and Kristoff felt intense loss and dull rage at the sight. He would mourn her later. First, he would avenge her.

First, he went to Frigga’s house. Having been inside it earlier, he knew which window was most likely to be unlocked, and to his surprise, it was. He grinned. His heart pounded with excitement. He entered Frigga’s room like a ghost. He held the knife in one steady hand. He could see her sleeping. She did not stir as he approached. He bent over her, positioning the knife, then shook her. He wanted her to see him as she died, so she would know who it was who was claiming her life in payment for Lilly’s. As her eyes opened, first groggy, then alarmed, Kristoff shoved the knife upwards. It entered her throat under her jaw. He noted with a distant fascination, as he stared into her dimming eyes, that he could see the glint of the knife through her open mouth, piercing through her tongue. He ripped the knife out, and her fingers clutched in vain to stem the gout of blood. She died within seconds, her eyes open and terrified.

Kristoff stowed his knife and left the house. The Duke was next, and surely a more difficult target. Kristoff had a plan to deal with obstacles, but first, he had to find the Duke. He first checked the courthouse, just in case, but as he had expected, the Duke was not there. It was reasonable to assume the Duke’s house would be the largest and grandest, and Kristoff’s assumption was correct. There were several men standing guard around the perimeter, but Kristoff had just the thing for that. He got into position, hidden in the shadows, then pulled out his hollow reed and darts, being very careful not to prick himself with them. He slid one into the end of the reed and held it up to his lips. He aimed, lining up his shot with great care, then fired. The dart soared through the air like a whisper, then stuck into the exposed neck of the guard. His eyes bulged. His neck craned at a grotesque angle as the poison began its work, and as it raced along the rest of his body, seizing his muscles, paralyzing them, Kristoff recognized him. It was the very same guard who’d led him to the gallows.

_ “You must be very careful around these, Kristoff,” Father said. He was gesturing to a twisted vine with black berries on it. _

_ “Why, Father?” _

_ “One bite of these, and you’ll never eat anything again, my son.” Kristoff’s eyes widened and he took a step back. His father smiled. “But they do have uses. If you dip an arrow into the juice, it will cause whatever is hit by it to become paralyzed, almost immediately. It’s great for hunting.” _

_ “What’s palaryzed, Father?” _

_ “Paralyzed,” Father repeated. “It means you can’t move.” _

Kristoff crept forward. He could see the fear in the man’s eyes as he looked up at Kristoff, helpless to defend himself, as Kristoff had been helpless until Lilly-

Kristoff stared down at the man, blood covering his front, the dripping knife in his grip. Kristoff’s hands were quite steady as he slit the guard’s throat. The man’s eyes stayed full of fear even as the life left them.

In short order, Kristoff had dealt with the other guards in a similar fashion, then, as quietly as he could, broke a window in the house and crawled through. He stood very still, straining his ears for the sound of the slightest movement. He did not hear any, and set about his search for the Duke.

He found the Duke’s room without trouble. The door was open, and Kristoff soon stood over the Duke as he had stood over Frigga. He gripped the knife, staring down at the man, corrosive hatred pumping through his heart. He would make this slower. As slowly as his sister had died. The Duke was laying on his back, and Kristoff raised the knife with both hands, then plunged it into his stomach. The Duke’s eyes flew open and he thrashed in pain and surprise. Kristoff pulled the blade with every ounce of weight he had, splitting the Duke’s stomach open all the way across his body. He felt the last of the resistance give as the knife cut through his side, leaving a lopsided gash.

The Duke’s weak screams and gasps gave Kristoff a sense of satisfaction unlike anything before, full of joy and anger, sorrow and jubilation. He stood there, his breathing normal and his face impassive, and watched him die. It took a long time. When he lay still at last, Kristoff left the house. He stood in the cool night air, the knife still in his right hand. He had expected to be discovered, to be killed. But he hadn’t been. The Duke’s house stood apart from the rest of Fulbeck. No one had heard the screams. The town was still quiet. He could do one more thing.

Kristoff walked to the gallows, feeling like he was watching his own body go through the motions. He stared at Lilly, climbing the steps on shaking and unsteady legs. Her lips were swollen, her eyes were crimson, and her face was a deep purple. He felt bile rise, but this time, he was able to choke it back down. He could at least do this for her. He saw no other way to lower her, so he went to the rope and sawed through it with the knife.

She landed on the ground with unsettling motions. Her leg twisted awkwardly beneath her, but she didn’t react. It took Kristoff a moment to realize why that felt so unreal. He went down the stairs and over to her body. He took the rope from around her neck with trembling fingers, then closed her eyes. His hands had not shaken at all while holding the knife, but they did now. He was as gentle as he could be with her, despite the fact that he  _ knew _ she couldn’t feel it. She couldn’t feel anything now.

Lilly was bigger than him, but Kristoff had always been strong for his age. He heaved her up over his shoulders, her head lolling on his side. “Hang on, Lilly,” Kristoff grunted as he staggered away. She felt so much heavier than she was in life, but Kristoff would not let her fall. He managed to make it to the woods. He lay her down in the shade of a large tree, then set out, searching for an appropriate place to bury her. He found one within a few minutes, a beautiful spot by a bubbling brook. Lilly always liked playing in the shallow streams, trying to teach Kristoff how to catch frogs.

A short while later, he brought Lilly to the spot. Using the knife and a thick branch, he carved himself a simple flat spade, which he used to break up the dirt and scrape it away, using his hands where his hastily made shovel failed. He worked until the hole was deep enough that Lilly wouldn’t be dug up by scavengers. He lowered her into the grave, trying to hold back the tears as her body flopped into the earth, then stood up and thought. No, this wouldn’t do. He walked along the stream until he had gathered a respectable bouquet of wildflowers, then returned. He arranged her hands around the stems, then left them clasped over her chest. He climbed back out and looked back down. It still wasn’t what she deserved. She deserved so much more. She deserved a marble statue in her honor, a thousand mourners, songs sung of her kindness, her bravery, her love, her sacrifice. But this meager grave was the best he could do. “I love you, Lilly,” he said, tears stinging his eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon, staining the sky with streaks of gold and red, when he finished. He used his knife to carve a message on the wood of a nearby tree.

**LILLY**

**THE BEST BIG SISTER EVER**

**I LOVE YOU**

Kristoff looked up at the sky when he finished. The colors gave him an idea.

* * *

“After I buried her, I went back to the town, and… I burned it. I went house to house with a torch, and I burned the whole town to the ground.” Kristoff shook his head. “By the time anyone woke up, too many houses were already up. It spread through the whole town. I don’t know how many people died. I saw a lot of people running out of houses. But… they stood by and watched my sister die. I couldn’t…” he trailed off, not sure how to elaborate.

Anna’s head was on his shoulder. “I understand,” she whispered, and she squeezed him tighter. “I’m so sorry.”

“After that, I made my way as far south as I could. Father had taught me well how to survive in the woods. That’s when I met Sven- my Sven-, and the Ice Harvesters, and… well, you know the rest.” He let out a long sigh. Telling the story had been painful to the point of agony. But now that he had told it to Anna, he felt better. He felt like a weight he had been carrying around since his sister’s death was finally a little lighter. Anna was helping him carry it now.

“That’s why I… am the way I am. I’ve always been so scared that what happened to Lilly would happen to you, or Elsa, or Heins, or… anyone. The trolls helped me to heal, to grieve, but that’s why I was alone, and so adamant about staying alone, when you stumbled into Oaken’s Trading Post-”

“And Sauna,” Anna added, letting out a small giggle, though it was thick with emotion.

“And Sauna. You helped me to see that the world was more than the cruelty I’d been through. Thank you. But I’ve never quite been able to forget the past. I… I know I’ve scared you before. I never meant to. I just… I couldn’t let it happen again. I  _ couldn’t _ ,” he repeated, imploring her to understand. She didn’t reply, just squeezed him and pressed her head against his shoulder.

“When this is over,” Anna whispered after a pause. “I want to go to Fulbeck with you.”

“What do you mean?” Kristoff asked. “I’m not kidding, it burned to the ground. You know how fast houses like that go up-”

“No, no,” Anna said, shaking her head. “I meant… I’d like to go see your sister. Meet her. Thank her for what she’s done for me. For so many people.”

“I’d-” Kristoff choked. “I’d like that.”


	51. Hunting the Spirits: Anna - Proving Herself

Anna had always known Kristoff was an orphan. She’d always known that he grew up with the trolls, and that his life hadn’t been what you could call easy before they met. But even then, though she would never have told him- or anyone, even Elsa- this, she had always considered hers the worse childhood. It was not something she dwelled on, not something she thought about. It was just sort of one of those things she knew in passing. He had a family, though not his birth family, and freedom. Anna had half a family and no freedom. Put simply, she was worse off. She did not discount the comforts of growing up in a castle, in having a bed, a roof over her head, food on the table. But even with that, Kristoff had seemed so much less affected by his past than she was by hers. _Surely_ hers was the worst, right?

Sure, he was a loner, with a bit of a rough exterior, but he had always had a heart of solid gold hidden underneath the furs and sharp edges. Anna was so damaged from her isolation that she tried to marry a man she just met that day. It seemed so clear, so obvious, that she was the more broken one that she had never even given it a second thought. She had gained a great deal of self-esteem since the gates were opened, but she had always considered herself the lucky one, the one punching above their weight class, the one Kristoff had “saved”, though not in any traditional sense. He saved her by helping her to see how much she was worth, not in his eyes, or anyone else’s, but in her own. She had always assumed all that she had done was help uncover the good in Kristoff, make him more comfortable to show what was there all along.

So much for all that. 

It was a bit of a rude awakening for Anna. Kristoff’s story had her rethinking every interaction she’d ever had with him. 

Of course he thought reindeers were better than people- people had slaughtered his family. 

Of course he killed those assassins that day without a second thought- Anna had been in danger. 

Of course he seemed so at home with a weapon in his hand- he had taken his first lives at the age of seven. 

Of course he had been hesitant to marry Anna- she had to ask him, instead of the other way around, it was the final step in committing himself to love another, and he had learned long ago that losing those you love causes pain that can never be forgotten. 

She must have lost track of time in her thoughts, because she became aware of Kristoff looking down at her with a concerned expression. “Are you okay, Anna?”

“Yeah,” she said, her voice cracking a little from how hard she had been crying. “I’m sorry, Kristoff, it’s…” she trailed off, not sure how to phrase it.

“A lot to take in,” he finished, and Anna nodded. “I know,” he sighed, leaning his head back against the tree and closing his eyes. “I’m sorry I never told you-”

“Stop, Kristoff,” Anna interrupted with as much tenderness as she could manage. “I told you- I get it.”

“You don’t understand,” Kristoff protested. His eyes were wild, almost frantic. “I lied to you. The entire time you knew me, I lied to you. The things I’ve done... You didn’t even know me until just now. It’s not okay, Anna!”

Anna pulled away from Kristoff, then moved around in front of him so that they were face to face. “Kristoff. Look at me.” He avoided her eyes. “Look at me,” she repeated. He did. “I. Am. Not. Angry,” she said, emphasizing each word. “I don’t need to know everything about someone’s past to know them.”

“But-”

“And I also,” Anna continued, with a pointed look at Kristoff, “will be the judge of whether or not you wronged me. Not you. Did you honestly think I would be angry? No!”

“How can you say that?” Kristoff asked, sounding a little frustrated now. 

Anna realized something, and smiled. “I think you’re right,” she breathed, half to herself. “I am getting better.” Speaking louder, she said, “You _do_ remember that I’m the same girl that threw herself in front of a blade for her sister who was, at that exact moment, mourning the fact that she _murdered_ that girl, right?”

“Yeah, but-”

“Oh, shut up,” Anna said, and she pressed her lips to his. They parted after a few seconds, and Anna continued, “I’m sorry about what happened to you. To your family. But I don’t care that you didn’t tell me. That’s not something I’d want to talk about either. Thank you for sharing that with me. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Now let’s go find out where the Earth Temple is so you can keep up with me, yeah?”

* * *

As the pair of them set off towards Dair once more, hand in hand, Anna’s heart was soaring high on the wind. The story had been horrible, the emotions strong and heavy. But now, she felt closer to Kristoff, more connected, than she had since before the Fall. Maybe ever. It felt like the last wall between them had been torn down at long last, a wall she didn’t even know was there, and their hearts, minds, and souls were one in a way that had never quite been achievable before. She could tell Kristoff felt the same. In a stark contrast to how he had been when sharing the story of his family, he walked with a light spring in his step, as though he was, at long last, fully embracing the gift his sister had given him. She only wished it hadn’t taken this long for him to share his burden with her. She helped him bear it gladly. 

When they arrived at the outskirts of Dair, Kristoff had Anna wait in the forest while he went to contact one of his network. He returned within a minute.

“I’ve sent the signal,” he said. “My contact will meet us out here when he sees it.” He answered Anna’s raised eyebrows with a laugh. “I’ve been very busy over the past two years, Anna.”

Another hour of idle chatter passed before Kristoff’s contact was able to meet them. It was an old man who walked with a limp, but his eyes glinted as they swept over his surroundings. Anna could tell with just a glance he was almost the ideal spy- frail, helpless, slow in his old age in appearance, but observant and sharp as a tack in reality. He told them that the Empire had recovered a map from the Trolls, and that it was being kept in a building here in Dair until a convoy from the capitol could arrive and transport it back to Hans.

“When is that?” Kristoff asked. 

“Tomorrow.”

“Guards on the building?”

“Two at all times, one on the roof, another inside. There’s another guard post two buildings down, six or seven guards in there, I haven’t been able to get an accurate count.” He glanced up at the darkening sky with a frown. Anna could see a storm blowing in. “I need to get back. Curfew is soon.” He looked at Anna, then straightened up as much as he could. “It’s very good to see you well, Your Highness,” he said with a deep bow.

“Thank you,” Anna said, feeling her cheeks turning pink. “And thank you for your help. Stay safe.”

“You as well, Your Highness.” With that, he hurried back to Dair. 

“We need to get Elsa and the others,” Kristoff said.

Anna shook her head. “We don’t have time.”

“We can’t do this alone,” Kristoff warned.

Anna smiled. “You’re right. _We_ can’t. _I_ can.” She pulled her hood over her head as rain started to fall.

“Anna, no, it’s too dangerous-”

“Trust me, Kristoff. I’ll get that map. You’re not the only one who’s been busy for two years. Let me show you.” She kissed him, stifling his further protests. “Just keep an eye out for me, okay? We may need to make a quick exit.” With that, she spun on her heel and darted towards Dair. She heard Kristoff start to follow, then his footsteps trailed off. Anna grinned. He trusted her. She wouldn’t disappoint.

* * *

An hour later, as lightning flashed overhead and rain pounded down, Anna was crouched in an alley a little ways down the street from the building that reportedly contained the map. She summoned a burst of flame, then waited. She heard a guard shouting, but stayed where she was, concealed by the shadows and her dark cloak. She saw a thin rectangle of light stretch across the street, a shadow cross it, then disappear. Someone was coming. Just one someone. Perfect.

A guard jumped out from behind the corner, his sword bare and swinging. Anna felt a twinge of disappointment. Were they going to make it this easy for her? She burst from her hiding spot, sliding behind the guard and slicing the backs of his knees with her knife. His screams split the air as he fell. Anna let him scream for just a moment, then put him out of his misery as quickly as she could with her flame, cutting off his shouts. She heard the guard shouting again from the building, a distinct edge of fear to his voice. This was going perfect. 

Anna had learned soon after the Fall that fear would make men do very stupid things. Like fail to leave the building he was in to fetch the reinforcements for fear of the boogeyman. Aiming to capitalize on that fear, Anna leapt on top of a crate in the alley and levered herself onto the rooftops. She stood there, watching the guard on top of the roof look around, his eyes wide with fear, Anna’s cloak distorting her silhouette against the night sky. A flash of lightning lit the village, and she saw the guard lean back, his eyes widening- he had seen her. As the lightning faded, Anna jumped down to the street. Using the cover of the rain and thunder to drown out her footsteps, she sprinted up to the building as the guard shouted, “By order of the King, I order you to identify yourself!”

One of the many, many hobbies that Anna had taken up when the gates were closed was ventriloquism. She would perform puppet shows for her mom and dad (she invited Elsa every single time, but she never came), and while, like almost all of her hobbies from that time, she eventually gave it up, one thing she kept with was the ability to throw her voice. Not in any real sense, of course. The sound was still coming from her, but she could make it sound like it was coming from much further away, or make it so faint while still being intelligible that the source became difficult to identify. She no longer performed puppet shows, but being able to give the portraits a voice of their own, and if she really disconnected from the sound, pretend they were actually speaking to her, did a lot to wile away the long years in the castle.

Using this long-honed skill, assisted by the wind’s relentless howl and the booming thunder, she hissed, “Your false King holds no power over me.”

“False King, huh?” the guard cried, and Anna could hear the fear in his voice, but as long as he wasn’t too stupid about this, he didn’t have to die. She used the cover of his next sentence to join him, slipping onto the roof without a sound. “We’ll see how false he is when you’re brought before him! What did you do with Tomas?”

“I’m afraid your relief will be… late to his post. He’s in a dreadful state, you see.” Anna pressed herself up against the low wall around the roof, and saw the guard’s eyes flying around, trying to spot her. She was in plain sight, but the darkness, the rain, and the man’s own fear was blinding him. She stood up as the guard swiveled away, just in time for him to swing back and for more lightning to crack across the sky. He saw her and fell back, and she used his distraction to vanish against the wall again, sliding along it to get behind him. 

“I have no quarrel with you,” Anna hissed from the opposite side of the roof. The guard spun around, swinging his sword blindly through the air, hacking and chopping at nothing. She decided to give the young man one last chance. “If you attempt to attack me again, I will kill you. Don’t make Tomas’s mistake.”

“I yield, I yield!” he cried, and he fell to his knees. His sword clanged to the ground. “Don’t kill me!”

Anna stood, summoned a ball of flame, then held it, looking down at the guard. She could see the trapdoor to the interior beneath him. “Wise choice,” she hissed again. “Now move. There’s something in this building I need.” The guard scrambled out of the way, and Anna bent down to open the trapdoor. Behind her, she could hear the guard pick up his sword. _Dammit. Fine._ She twisted her body to the side, so that her cloak, held by inertia, stayed where it was for just a moment. The sword tore through the fabric, missing Anna by inches. She drew her knife as she twirled and lunged, her teeth bared in a snarl, and swept the blade across the guard’s throat. His jugular opened in a gout of blood, spraying all over Anna’s face and clothing, and he fell back. He was dead within seconds, his eyes pooling with rain. Anna wiped off her blade and sheathed it, upset at the meaningless death of the man. She was not above killing at this point- her hands were dripping with blood- but it still made her sad when she had to take a life, especially when she had tried to let the young man keep it.

She entered the building. The steep stairway beneath the trapdoor led to a small room which composed the entirety of the building. Two chairs sat at a small table, cards and coins still scattered across its surface. Traveling cloaks were hung up on a hook on the wall, near the door. A spare pair of boots, wet with rain, sat beneath them. There were many small trinkets around, quills, paper, candles. What most certainly was not there, however, was a map. “Well… shit.”

She tore the building apart over the next fifteen minutes, searching everywhere she could get to for the map. Nothing. She stomped around on the floor, listening for a hollow part. Nothing. She knocked all around the walls, listening for a hidden cupboard. Nothing. “They were guarding _something_ ,” Anna muttered, pacing back and forth, pulling at her hair, frantic to find the map. “Where the hell is it?” In frustration, she threw an ink bottle at the table, where it shattered, spreading a pool of black across its surface. Anna cocked her head. The ink wasn’t flowing across the surface uniformly. She could see lines in the table, where the ink was seeping into otherwise invisible cracks. She got closer and poked her fingernails down into the crack, the still damp blood on her hands mixing with the ink. She got a hold on a tiny lip and pulled. The top of the table slid sideways, surprising her with how easy it moved. She jumped back as the table’s surface fell to the floor, sending ink flying. It was a good thing most of her clothing was black now anyway. She looked into the compartment built within the table and had to stifle a cry of excitement. It was a map! She snatched it up before the ink could puddle enough to reach it, folded it, taking great care not to rip it- it was at least as old as the one she’d found to the Fire Temple- then stuffed it into the small sealed pouch inside her shirt. 

The door burst open. Anna froze, her eyes wide. Four guards stood there, concerned looks on their faces that switched to confusion in an instant. Anna stood with her hand reaching into the front of her partially unbuttoned shirt, pulling it open to mid-navel, revealing an awful lot more skin than was decent. Her face and clothing were spattered with blood and ink. Her hair was sticking out in all directions from pulling at it in frustration. The room looked like a tornado had blown through, with papers and quills scattered all over the floor. The table was in pieces. There was a sword sticking through the seat of a chair, put there by Anna when the search of the walls had failed. 

“Uh… hey fellas,” Anna said, trying to make her voice as sultry as possible, without really knowing what she hoped to happen- not that it mattered, since she failed conclusively anyway.

“Grab her!” a guard shouted. Oh well, what had she expected them to do? She flicked her wrist, and a wall of fire shot across the doorway. The guards, who had just begun to move forward, jumped back. Anna shot up the stairs like an arrow, slamming the trapdoor open and leaping onto the rooftop in two quick hops. The next building over was about ten feet from the one she was on, with a flat, strong roof. Perfect. She bolted to the edge and leapt, landing on the next roof.

“Over there!” someone shouted, but she had already crossed the length of the building and jumped down on the opposite side. She sprinted down the street, then peeled off and headed for the woods, towards Kristoff. She could hear them still chasing and shouting, but she was faster. Kristoff’s face loomed out of the darkness.

“Anna, what-” He cut off as his eyes swept over her- shirt hanging open, blood and ink covering her. 

“Time to go!” she shouted, running past him, grabbing his hand and dragging him along.

“What did you do?!” Kristoff cried, taking off after her. Anna’s only response was a giddy, exhilarated laugh. She had not felt this _alive_ in more than two years. She had succeeded, and vindicated Kristoff’s faith in her, who, by the way, had never felt closer. Things were finally getting better!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone needs a reminder, this scene appears from the unfortunate guard's point of view in the Epilogue to Part II.
> 
> Also, Anna trying and failing to be sexy, while covered in blood in a destroyed room, to distract the guards is one of my favorite stupid jokes in this whole thing.


	52. Hunting the Spirits: Elsa - The Map

“Why is everything going so bad?” Elsa complained to Heins. “I hope Anna and Kristoff aren’t caught out in this.” Another flash burst through the sky, then a crack of thunder so loud and so close that Elsa swore she heard pieces of shale peel off and clatter to the ground. Gareth had returned to tell them to meet Anna and Kristoff in Dair before setting off again, this time as a wolf, but before the rest of them could set out, the worst thunderstorm Elsa had seen in years blew in. At first, they tried to set out anyway, but when the third branch came a few inches from killing them before they had made it a half mile, they called it off and ran back to the cave, where they now cowered, huddled in the far corner to avoid the sprays of water from the entrance. Elsa had offered to block the entrance, but none of them wanted to miss if Anna and Kristoff came back. Heins sat on Elsa’s right, and Ciri cuddled up to her left, trembling from the cold wind and near freezing spray. Heins had already given the young woman his jacket, but she was still shivering violently. Elsa was rubbing Ciri’s arms, trying to help warm her up.

“They’ll be okay, honey,” Heins soothed.

“But what if they’re not?” Elsa said, shaking her head. “What if they get hurt, or killed, and the last thing I said to Kristoff was-”

“Stop it,” Ciri scolded, prodding Elsa in the ribs. 

“Listen to her, Elsa,” Heins said. “You did what you had to. We didn’t have time to grieve. He’ll understand, I promise.”

“How do you know?”

“He did the same to me, once.”

“What do you mean?” 

“It was during the Battle of Corona. I’ve told you how Alarik saved my life.”

“Mhm.” Elsa murmured, laying her head on Heins’s shoulder. Another violent shiver wracked Ciri’s body, and Elsa pulled her a little closer. 

“I started to spiral pretty quick after that, and Kristoff got me to snap out… of it…” Heins trailed off.

“I didn’t know that,” Elsa said. “What did he say?” Heins didn’t answer. “Heins?” No answer. She lifted her head and looked at him, and Ciri sat forward to do the same, peering around Elsa’s shoulder. Heins stared forward, his mouth slightly open. 

“He… he said... what did he say?” Heins’s brow was creased, and his eyes were scanning, searching for the memory. “He said… he knew what it was like to blame himself for a death that wasn’t his fault. He said…” Heins made a frustrated huff. “I think… it was something about why he was such a loner before he met Anna.”

There was a pause. “Well?” Elsa prompted. “What did he say?”

“He didn’t, a messenger came up and we never got back to it.”

“What was he before he met Princess Anna?” Ciri asked.

“He was just an ice harvester,” Elsa said, a little confused. “His parents died just after he was born. The ice harvesters took care of him until he found the trolls.”

“I mean, isn’t that why then? Had to have been pretty lonely. I’d probably be a loner too.”

“I don’t think so,” Heins said. “I already knew that, he was talking about something I didn’t know.”

A feeling of unease was rising in Elsa’s stomach. She had never been given reason to doubt Kristoff’s honesty. He had always been devoted to Anna and courteous to Elsa, and she did like him a great deal. He had always been a good friend, and many times, she found solace in his company when even Anna’s wasn’t working. He had a sort of down-to-earth good nature about him that Elsa found relaxing. Within only a few meetings, he’d practically forgotten Elsa was his Queen, and treated her as simply Elsa, without judgement or expectation. It was refreshing. But now, for the first time, she realized she knew next to nothing about his life before Anna. She certainly didn’t know of any traumatic deaths he would have blamed himself for.

“Wh-” Ciri started, then she cut herself off. She cocked her head to the side, listening hard. “I hear Anna.” She got up and darted over to the entrance. Elsa hurried along behind her, while Heins stayed sitting against the wall, looking to be still deep in thought. She strained her ears to filter out the howling wind. She didn’t hear anything, and said as much to Ciri. “No, I hear her. Trust me.”

“Which way?” Ciri pointed. “Alright. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Elsa pulled her hood over her head and hurried out into the storm, keeping careful track of her movements so she could find her way back.

The storm had only intensified since the Queensguard had taken refuge in the cave. The wind whipped through the trees, and the rain came down in sweeping sheets. Within seconds, Elsa’s clothes were soaked through. She was not cold in the slightest.  _ Thank you, Shiva _ , Elsa thought, grinning, and she felt a sort of amused pleasure spread through her that didn’t seem to come from herself. “Anna!”

“ _ Elsa! _ ” Elsa’s head whipped around, towards where she thought the sound had come from. She ran towards the sound, slipping every few steps as her feet splashed through the mud. The tops of the trees were swaying an unsettling amount, and Elsa kept a constant eye on the canopy in case of falling branches, which meant she didn’t even notice running right past Anna.

“Elsa!” Anna shouted, grabbing Elsa’s arm. Elsa yelped in fear and spun around to see Anna grinning at her, bearing more than a slight resemblance to a drowned rat. Her hair was plastered to her forehead and she was trembling even worse than Ciri, goosebumps covering every inch of her, but the smile on her face could only be described as radiant. Kristoff was huddled behind her, looking much less aglow with happiness, but no less drenched. Elsa looked at him, shame in her heart, but Kristoff didn’t seem to look at her with any resentment at all. “Hey sis!” Anna was no more than a foot away, and Elsa still had to strain to make out her words, the storm was so fierce.

“Anna!” Elsa cried, embracing her. “Are you guys okay?”

“Yeah! We couldn’t find the cave!”

“This way!” Elsa took Anna’s hand and led her back the way she had come. She could feel Anna’s fingers trembling, not the subtle shiver of cold, but the more extreme motions of excitement, as they ran, heads bowed, towards the cave. What had happened to make Anna so giddy? 

“Oh shit!” Elsa heard Anna cry, then her sister’s hand was wrenched out of her grip. Elsa spun around, adrenaline shooting through her veins, already deep in the flow of Shiva’s magic, ready for battle- but all she saw was Anna, flat on her back, a long track in the mud where her foot had slipped out from under her. At first, Elsa thought she was crying out in pain, but as she hurried to her side, she noticed that Anna was  _ laughing _ . Not just a little, not like a self-deprecating chuckle at her clumsiness, but a full-bodied fit of laughter, which rang with happiness even over the sound of the storm. Elsa shot Kristoff a confused glance, and he returned an equally bemused one. 

Anna’s laughter proved contagious, and what started as a small chuckle from Elsa turned into a giggle, then a laugh, then what could only be described as a guffaw. Kristoff was laughing now too, the absurdity of the situation serving to intensify the laughter, and the harder they laughed, the more absurd the situation became, and Elsa wondered deliriously if they had all lost their minds. Anna was on all fours, hacking and wheezing. Kristoff leaned up against a tree for balance, his face beet red. Elsa’s hands were on her knees, bent double in shrieking gales of laughter.

After what felt like an hour, but had surely been a minute or two at most, they managed to catch their breath, with the occasional wild giggle escaping their lips. “What in the world is so damn funny?” Elsa gasped, wiping her eyes, which did next to nothing in the torrential downpour.

“Tell you later,” Anna said, still beaming, mud caking her clothes and hair. “To the cave!” She took off running.

“Anna!” Elsa shouted, trying to keep from falling back into a fit of mirth. “Wrong way.”

“Right!” She spun on her heel, tilting precariously again, and tore off in the exact opposite direction, past Elsa.

“Anna!”

“Right, right, you lead!”

Shaking her head and grinning, Elsa led the way back to the cave. A few minutes later, the three of them were huddled around a small fire Anna built inside the cave, freshly dressed in dry clothes (Elsa had created privacy dividers for them- none of them really cared at this point in their journey, but Ciri had blushed so furiously red when Kristoff had taken his shirt off that Elsa decided to just avoid that situation altogether). Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, and Heins had the map spread out on the floor (safely away from the flames) and were poring over it- not that there was much to pore over. Ciri sat by Elsa as well, examining the map with an interested expression. The cartographers seemed to not put much stock in things like compasses, scale, accuracy, details, or anything else that a map really ought to have. Instead, it was a loose collection of symbols that they thought were supposed to be landmarks, but the drawer had drawn them from only a description in the midst of a midnight fever dream. 

“It’s a lot like the one to the Fire Temple,” Anna was saying. “See this?” She pointed. “That’s the symbol for Earth. Titan.”

“Yeah, but I don’t know where this is,” Kristoff said, frowning. “This here looks like it could be the North Mountain-” he indicated a rough triangle with a jagged bottom- “but what the hell is this?” He pointed towards the symbol right next to it, which resembled an upside down capital “T”. “And these things look like rivers-” he traced one of the long, sinuous lines that stretched across the whole parchment- “but there are no rivers like that in all of Arendelle.”

“Could it be somewhere besides Arendelle?” Elsa asked. “Ignis may have been mistaken.”

They pondered this for a moment, then Anna shook her head. “I don’t think so. Not that he couldn’t make a mistake, but the thing where each Temple is somewhere significant to us- I really think that’s important. This one must be here.”

“I don’t know how we’re going to find it,” Kristoff huffed. “This map is worthless. It doesn’t show us anything.” He snatched up a pebble and threw it at the wall. It clacked off the shale with a sharp snap and bounced away. Ciri gasped.

“Maybe it does!” she exclaimed. They all looked at her. “Kristoff, didn’t you say there was a huge cave system here?”

“Yeah, but-” He stopped, a dawning realization on his face. “Damn, Ciri,” he said, grinning at her. She beamed. “Nice one.”

“What? I don’t get it,” Heins said.

“It’s not a map of the surface,” Ciri explained. “It’s-”

“A map of the underground,” Kristoff finished, pulling the map towards him and looking it over with renewed concentration. “Yes!” he cried, snapping his fingers and looking around at them all, wild excitement on his face. “These aren’t rivers! They’re caverns! I know where this is!” The excitement shone for a moment, and then his face grew somber. He put his hand flat on the map, palm down. “It wasn’t for nothing.”

Anna put her arm around Kristoff’s waist and laid her head on his shoulder. “We’ll make sure of that,” she promised, and both Elsa and Heins agreed.

Elsa hesitated for a moment, then said, “Kristoff, listen-”

“It’s fine,” he interrupted. “You were right. We didn’t have time.”

“I’m still sorry.”

“I know. And I appreciate it.” He stood up. “Alright, we need to get into the cave system. Ladies?”

Anna grinned. “Leave it to us.”

* * *

“Ready, Elsa?” Anna asked, her hands poised in front of her. Elsa nodded, her face screwed up with concentration. Heins and Kristoff stood near their wives, ready to pull them away if something went wrong, while the rest of the Queensguard huddled against the downpour a fair distance away. “Okay… 3, 2, 1, now!” As one, the two sisters made identical movements.

Using a set of pickaxes provided by Elsa, Heins and Kristoff had created a dozen pockets in the shale. Elsa had packed these pockets full of as much ice as she could, leaving space on the end to form a small hollow. Anna would fill these pockets with the hottest fire she could muster, while Elsa pushed the ice into the pockets as hard as she was capable of. The heat, combined with the pressure, would melt and boil the water almost simultaneously, and the rapid expansion of the gas would, in theory, blast large sections of the rock away. It was a rather ingenious idea of Kristoff’s, who, despite not being half as educated as Elsa, Heins, or Anna, had an intuitive grasp of how things interacted much better than any of the others.

Judging from the awesome sound that burst from the cave, and the sound of thousands of impacts as the rock rained down, it had worked marvelously. Heins began to walk forward to inspect the damage, but Elsa grabbed his arm. “Not yet, remember?”

“Oh, right.” He stepped back as Elsa knelt down, reaching out both hands. Tendrils of her power snaked from her fingers as she moved them with delicate grace. Inside the cave, icy supports constructed themselves along the roof and sides of the entrance, then, like weeds, grew and spread into the cave. After a few moments, Elsa nodded, satisfied with her work, then tried to straighten up, but as she did, a wave of exhaustion crashed over her. Her legs gave out and her balance went, but Kristoff caught her just before she hit the ground.

“Elsa, you okay?” he asked, as Heins rushed over to them and Kristoff got her back upright.

Elsa nodded, now standing on her own, though she was still struggling to remain upright, her eyes closed, breathing hard. “Yeah. Just tired.” She looked at Anna, who looked back, concern etched on her face. “You’re getting better. I had to pour a lot of ice in there to keep up with you.”

Anna gave an apologetic half-smile. “I didn’t mean to wear you out, Elsa.” She wrinkled her nose. “Why is it so much harder for you to make ice than it is for me to make fire?”

“There’s a bunch of reasons that could be,” Kristoff said. “Your fire doesn’t stick around when you stop concentrating on it, right? But Elsa’s ice does, so it might, I don’t know, take more energy to create because it’s taking energy to sustain itself later?”

“That, and fire can sustain itself just fine,” Elsa sighed, feeling a little better with every passing moment. “Put an ice cube and a flame in a dry field and see which one grows.” She grinned at Anna. “Then again, I can do this,” and she conjured a small, icy umbrella, which she spun over her shoulder. Another small wave of lightheadedness hit her, but it was much more manageable. She hadn’t realized just how much that had really taken out of her, though- she’d have to be more careful. “That’s not fair!” Anna cried, as the others laughed.

“Are you guys done?” came Ciri’s voice from near Elsa’s elbow. Elsa gave a small jump and turned to see Ciri, teeth chattering and shivering, her arms wrapped around herself, her ashen hair dripping wet and her clothes soaked through.

“Sorry, Ciri!” Elsa laughed, melting the umbrella with a thought. “Yes, we’re done. Let’s go see how far we made it.” She beckoned to the others and led the way into the cave. Her supports were holding well. The floor of the cave was covered with flecks of rock and debris, and one wall was now quite a ways further than it had been. Kristoff walked towards it, pacing out the distance between where the wall was now and where it was before.

“Not bad. Only a few feet shy, if that.”

“Want us to do it again?” Elsa asked. Her voice was steady, but she silently prayed the answer was “no”. Doing that again right now might be too much for her. Thankfully, Kristoff shook his head.

“Let us take care of this. You guys rest. Can you just make us a couple more pickaxes?” The much smaller task was achievable in her current state, and soon, the air was full of the sound of picks striking shale. Elsa and Anna sat together on the far wall, with Ciri in front of them. Elsa’s eyes were closed, and she tried to relax as best she could. For a few minutes, the three of them sat in silence, but before too long, Ciri’s curiosity got the better of her- much to Elsa’s chagrin.

“Hey, did you ever find out what Heins was talking about?” she asked Elsa, who opened her eyes to give Ciri a warning glance, but Ciri was looking at the Queensguard working on the tunnel.

“No,” Elsa said curtly, hoping the matter would drop. She had no intention of bringing that up now. Unfortunately, Anna wasn’t on the same page.

“What’s that?” Anna asked, and before Elsa could intervene, Ciri was already answering.

“Heins said Kristoff told him he knew what it was like to blame yourself for a death, or something. Do you know what he’s talking about?”

“Ciri,” Elsa warned, and the younger girl looked back in alarm at her tone, then dropped her eyes, appearing to realize too late the implications of her question.

“Sorry, Your Highness, it’s not my place-”

“No, no, it’s alright,” Anna soothed. “It’s fine.” She sighed and dropped her voice. “It’s a long story, and not mine to tell. Please just let it go for now, okay?” Ciri nodded, still looking at the floor with a guilty expression. “It’s only natural to be curious, Ciri, I’m not mad,” Anna said, putting a reassuring hand on Ciri’s shoulder and giving her an encouraging smile.

“The amount of times Anna got in trouble for asking too many questions...” Elsa giggled, and Ciri brightened a little. Anna’s sputtering indignation was cut off by Kristoff’s announcement.

“We’re through,” he called, peering through a crack in the wall just large enough to squeeze through. “Pitch black though. Sweetie?”

“You got it.” Anna got to her feet and went forward, conjuring a ball of fire in her hand as she did. Kristoff stepped back to allow Anna to fit through. She poked her head through the gap, then threw the ball towards the ceiling. There was an explosion of light from the cavern beyond. For a moment, Anna was silhouetted against the radiant glow, and both Elsa and Ciri let out small exclamations at the sight. It was really quite-

“Ah!” Anna yelped as her foot slipped off the edge. Her arms windmilled to keep her balance, then scrabbled uselessly on the cave walls, but she couldn’t get a grip. She toppled into the cavern beyond. 

“Anna!” Elsa cried, jumping to her feet, as everyone in the cave echoed her call and sprang towards the gap.

Before Elsa could take more than a half a step, Anna’s head popped up from the edge, grinning. “It’s only a few feet. Come on.”

“God DAMMIT, Anna!” Kristoff shouted, but it was clear he was more relieved than angry, while exasperated grumbles and groans spread through the cave.

“Anna, we’re going to have a talk about ‘time and place’, got it?” Elsa warned, but Anna just smirked at her.

“Couldn’t resist. Come on, we don’t have all day.”

One by one, they filed into the cavern. A shifting pattern of flame danced across the domed ceiling, fifty feet above them. Elsa stared at it, mouth hanging open, her irritation at her sister forgotten. She was in awe of the way the fire moved, the way it seemed to flow like water along the ceiling, the hypnotic spirals that formed when it encountered an obstacle and rippled around it.

“Close that before a bat flies in it,” Anna joked, nudging Elsa. She closed her mouth, but kept staring up.

“It’s beautiful,” she breathed.

“Aw, you’re going to make me blush-”

“No, Anna, I mean it. It’s… beautiful.”

There was a pause, and then, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” With a monumental effort, Elsa tore her eyes away from the flames, and towards Kristoff. “Where to?”

Kristoff consulted the map, turning this way and that as he oriented himself. “This way,” he said, striding off to the right of where they’d entered, but then he hesitated. “Um…” He turned the map upside down. “No, this way,” he said again, much less confidently this time, and went the opposite direction. Elsa and Anna exchanged a glance, and neither of them could quite suppress the grin that spread across their faces.


	53. Hunting the Spirits: Kristoff - Fall

Despite the grin that Anna and Elsa shared, Kristoff knew  _ exactly _ where he was going. Mostly. Hopefully. Probably.

He had a good idea of where they were, but the lack of detail on the map made it impossible to know for sure. He had known of this cave system for many years, even poked around in it in his younger years, but he had never explored it as thoroughly as he was now. He could hear the others talking behind him, but in his mind, he was traveling across the surface, trying to judge in his head how far they had come, what direction they were facing, and where to go next. Anna had kept up the uniform light for a little while before tiring. Now, Kristoff, Heins, Cari, and Silas carried ice torches with spare shirts wrapped around the end, which Anna was fueling with a constant flow of her fire. It was much easier for her to keep a flame going when it had another source of fuel, and her powers kept the flames from consuming too much of the cloth at once.

So it was that they traveled. Much of the cavern was, for the most part, unhindered, save for some uneven footing across the floor of much of the cave. Every so often, they would come across an impassable obstacle they would have to circumvent, or a passage so narrow they had to remove their bags and weapons in order to squeeze through. A few times, they could catch a glimpse of light from a faroff passage or hole in the ceiling, but other than that, the light from the torches seemed to only penetrate a few feet into the gloom, shrouding the rest in darkness and silence.

“Woah, hang on,” Kristoff announced, coming to a halt at the edge of a sheer cliff. “Anna, can you give us some more light?”

“Sure,” she said, summoning a dozen floating flames, hovering around them, cutting through the oppressive darkness to illuminate a deep ravine, perhaps 30 feet across. There seemed to be a safe way to cross, a rocky arch with a wide top stretching the width of the ravine. 

“What is it?” Elsa asked, too far back to see.

“Narrow path over a ravine. Watch your step. Let me go first.” He walked across, one cautious step at a time, and it held with no indication of collapse. He turned back to see the others, who were jostling around, trying to figure out who would go next. Elsa got to the front and examined the arch.

“Want me to build something here, Kristoff?” she called across the gap. Kristoff eyed her warily. She still looked dead on her feet from the excavation and maintaining the torches. 

“No, it’s plenty wide. Just watch your step.” Kristoff saw relief flash across Elsa’s face. She sometimes pushed herself too far, and Kristoff had gotten good at recognizing the warning signs. Besides, it was more than wide enough, no less than four feet at its narrowest

One by one, the company all crossed the arch (some quicker than others, Anna, ever fearless, strode confidently across, while Cari’s movements were slow and careful), until only Elsa and Ciri were left on the other side. “Alright Ciri, you next,” Elsa said. Ciri took a shaky step towards the arch, then stopped and turned back to Elsa. They had a quick whispered conversation, then both stepped forward, hand in hand.

“We’re going to cross together,” Elsa said.

“Should be fine,” Kristoff called back, examining the arch. It had not so much as budged, and the two of them couldn’t weigh much more than he himself had. Still, he kept a close eye on it for any cracks or shifts in the rocks as Elsa and Ciri made their way onto the arch, Elsa in the lead. Kristoff could see Elsa wincing at how hard Ciri was squeezing her hand.

“Is she afraid of heights?” Anna murmured to Kristoff.

“Looks that way,” he whispered back.

“Poor thing.” Ciri was white as a ghost, seeming to almost glow in the darkness of the cave. It was no mean feat to make Elsa look tan, and Ciri was pulling it off. Ciri’s steps were tiny, and it took them a long time to cross the arch, but Kristoff couldn’t help but be impressed. Ciri’s terror was clear to see, nearly to the point of freezing up, but she was still moving. 

They stepped off the arch and onto the safety of solid ground. Ciri let out a gasp of relief, and Elsa turned to her, smiling. “See, that wasn’t so b-”

Kristoff should have paid more attention. He had been so focused on the arch, making sure that it was solid, and would hold them, that he hadn’t examined the ground on which they now all stood. If he had, he might have noticed the cracks along the edge of the ravine. He might have noticed how loose the earth was only a few feet below the rim. He might have noticed that the cliff face itself was arched, vast sections of it carved out from below by millions of years of erosion, so that what they stood on now was a hundred times more unstable than the arch they had crossed.

Heins reacted first. As the first loud rumblings began to shake the air, Heins was already moving towards Ciri, who had still been taking tiny steps away from the edge, and was therefore closest to it as it started to collapse. In the millisecond it took for Kristoff to register what was happening, Elsa had also begun to drop as the ground fell out from underneath her feet. He realized three things very quickly. One- no one else was close enough to save her. Two- she was so exhausted that her magic might not be enough to save her. Three- that meant it was up to him.

Kristoff pounced forward. Elsa’s eyes were widening, her mouth opening in a scream, her hands flying out in desperate hope of finding something to cling to, and then Kristoff was there. He seized Elsa’s arm with all his might. He felt the rock under his feet shift, and knew what was about to happen. It was already too late for him, it had been too late since the instant he moved, but he could still save Elsa. He pivoted, spinning on his heel and throwing Elsa up towards safety, sacrificing his own momentum to do it. And then the rock was falling, the feeling of weightlessness as Kristoff fell with it, down into the dark. The last thing he heard, before the dark swallowed him and his ears were full of the sound of rushing wind, was Anna, screaming his name.


	54. Hunting the Spirits: Anna - Pain

Anna had never been a good multitasker. Distractions flitted through her mind like butterflies, alighting on any one thing for only a moment before fluttering away again. It was a trait that had caused endless frustration for her tutors as a child. No sooner would they finish explaining an event, a date, a relation, would Anna’s mind rush through a thousand tangentially related thoughts that led to rational questions like “What kind of cats did the Egyptians have?” after being told that Caesar had been assassinated in the Senate of Rome. She did not _mean_ to get distracted, to her, it was one of her more reasonable lines of thought- Caesar knew Cleopatra, Cleopatra was Egyptian, the Egyptians thought cats were sacred, and so wouldn’t owning a cat be sacrilegious (though she could not put a word to this when she had been a child), but cats were fun, so obviously they owned them anyway, so what kind? See? Perfectly rational.

The unfortunate side effect of this tendency was crucial moments of hesitation. When faced with too much information at once, Anna’s brain slowed down to allow her to process all the input. When the first rumbling started, and the edge of the ravine began to collapse, Anna scrambled away. It had not been a choice, it had been simple reflex, overriding her conscious mind with a powerful survival instinct. Once that instinct faded, she realized that while she had gotten away, Elsa and Ciri had not. She saw Heins and Kristoff lunging for them, and she desperately wanted to help, but which one? Which one was closer? Which one was less likely to succeed? She had to choose correctly or someone would die. But _which one_? In that fatal fraction of a second of hesitation, that few hundred milliseconds of doubt and indecision, she lost her chance.

She saw Heins yank Ciri backwards onto solid ground.

She saw Ciri and Heins stumbling away from the cliff, clutching each other for balance, as more of it crumbled into the abyss.

She saw Kristoff grab Elsa and pull.

She saw the ground under Kristoff crack and begin to fall.

She saw Kristoff spin, throwing Elsa like a javelin towards safety.

She saw Kristoff overbalance and lose his footing.

She saw Elsa scramble to her hands and knees and look back towards Kristoff, a horrified expression etched on her face.

And then she couldn’t see Kristoff anymore.

“KRISTOFF!” Anna screamed. She burst forward, only to be caught around the middle by a strong arm and pulled backward as more of the cliff edge crumbled into the ravine. “NO! LET ME GO! KRISTOFF!”

“He’s gone, Anna!” cried a voice choked with emotion.

“NO!”

“Anna, stop, you can’t do anything!”

Anna looked at who was speaking. It was Alan, and his eyes were full of tears. Something about this sight drove it home. Kristoff was gone. She would never see him again. She stopped fighting. She fell to her knees. She screamed. She sobbed. She gasped for air. She couldn’t. Her heart had been torn from her chest. It wasn’t fair. She had only just gotten him back. She had felt closer to him than ever. She loved him more than ever. He was helping to heal her, and she was helping to heal him. What was she going to do now? What was the point? Kristoff was dead. There was no point. No reason to go on.

“I-I’m so sorry, Anna....” Elsa’s voice shook. Anna didn’t respond. Why bother? It wouldn’t bring Kristoff back. “I-it was my fault…” Maybe. So what? It didn’t matter. Kristoff was dead.

“No, Elsa, it wasn’t your fault,” someone unimportant said. Who cares? They were still talking, but Kristoff was dead.

“It’s mine,” someone else who didn’t matter said. Who the fuck cared whose fault it was? Kristoff was dead.

“It’s no one’s fault.” Why were they still talking? There was no point. Kristoff was dead.

Anna stood up, and everyone fell silent. Kristoff was dead. Kristoff would be alive if it weren’t for Hans. So she would go after him. She knew she would probably die if she did. But what did it matter? Kristoff was dead. She could at least take as much of the Empire with her as she could before she slept. She held up her hand, trying to make a light for herself. Nothing happened. Her heart was colder than it had been when Elsa froze it. Straining her eyes, she could just make out a shaft of light coming from up ahead. She moved towards it.

“Anna? Where are you going?”

“Anna!”

She didn’t respond. She moved as though in a dense fog, unable to see more than a few feet in front of her, because to look farther was to see a world where Kristoff no longer existed, where his smile no longer brightened her life, where his laughter no longer filled her heart with joy. The world had gone from a wide, wonderful, occasionally cruel place to a place with only two people in it. Anna, and Hans. One of them would die.


	55. Hunting the Spirits: Kristoff - Landing

Kristoff fell through the darkness. He knew he only had one chance. If there was water down here, and he landed just right, and it was deep enough… He had a chance. A tiny one, but a chance. He fell with his arms folded on his chest, feet crossed, toes pointed down. It was impossible to judge how far he had fallen, how far he still had to fall-

_ SPLASH! _

His feet hit the surface of the water with a painful, jarring suddenness. The shock ran up his legs and into his back, sending explosions of pain along his spine. His head slammed forward on his chest, just in time to hit the water face down. Water shot up his nose and down his throat, choking him. And then he was under. His legs and back screamed in agony, and his lungs were crying out for air. He coughed and fought the urge to breathe in, but it didn’t quite work. Water flowed down his throat, and he thrashed around, desperately searching for the surface. His hand emerged into air, and he kicked as hard as he could. His head breached the surface and he vomited up the water he had taken in. He felt around for a shore, a ledge, something, and his hand brushed up against something rocky. He seized it and heaved himself out of the water, throwing up what felt like a gallon of ice cold water. He collapsed on a rocky shore, panting and coughing. His lungs burned, and he couldn’t draw a full breath.

He rolled onto his back, still gasping, and looked back up the ravine. The gloom was so thick down here he couldn’t even see the light from the torches. The pain in his lungs was beginning to relax, as though a band that had been tightened around his chest was finally loosened. Everything hurt. His right ankle was stiff and painful, and very likely sprained or broken. His head pounded. His back had been compressed by the impact, and for a minute or so, he lay there and tried to stretch it out. It took a while, but when he was done, he could move a little better. He sat up, feeling out in front of him to make sure he didn’t knock his head on something, and took stock of his predicament.

He was freezing cold at the bottom of a ravine at least a few hundred feet deep. His ankle was injured to at least some degree, though as he poked and prodded at it, he thought he would be able to limp along okay. It was pitch black, so black that he could not see his own hand in front of his face. He had put his bag down on the ledge while he waited for everyone to cross, and so he had no torches. He also had no way to make one, as any plants or wood he could use to light would not be found this far underground. He had the map in his breast pocket, but there was no way to tell how readable it was after its swim, nor any way to tell where he was even if he could see it.

First thing to do- hope for rescue. He shouted as loud as he could, but the only sound he heard in return was a thousand disembodied Kristoffs shouting back at him. No good. He could tell the sound wasn’t carrying well enough through the thick atmosphere down here. Okay, next step- hypothermia. If he didn’t get dry soon, he would die. He took his clothes off, then, one by one, wrung them out as much as he could. He shook them, smacked them off the rock, anything he could do to get rid of as much water as possible. By the time he put them back on, they were damp, but no longer soaked, and were no longer robbing him of so much heat.

Next, try to work out a basic idea of the area he was in, as it might give him some hint as to where to go. He picked up a dozen small pebbles and threw them methodically in different directions. Through this, he discovered that the bottom of the ravine was narrow, with only a small portion of shore on either side of the underground river.

Now, how to get out? Kristoff was an experienced climber, but attempting a climb of an unknown distance up a sheer wall with zero visibility and uncertain stability sounded like a more complicated way of committing suicide, so he ruled that out. Another option was to wait, and hope that the company found a way to get down to him. This seemed unlikely. Elsa might be able to build something to navigate the chasm without killing herself, but it would take her a long time and a lot of energy- plus, they must think him dead. Would they risk it for the slightest chance Kristoff was alive? Anna might want to, but in all honesty, Kristoff hoped cooler heads would prevail. Elsa’s magic was powerful, but if she fastened her supports to unstable rock, her magic wouldn’t save her. It was a cruel reality he had learned from the ice harvesters. The number one priority when attempting a rescue mission is to not become another casualty in need of rescue. He hoped the others were smart enough to realize that. For now, he would assume he was on his own. 

Using the nearby wall as a support, Kristoff levered himself to his feet. He tested his weight on his ankle, and it seemed to hold him, though not without pain. At least it wasn’t debilitating. He looked right and left (though he was not sure why, he could not see anything) and thought. He had fallen a long way, but the caves that stretched through these mountains varied widely in elevation. He was not necessarily any farther from the surface than he had been, just in a different direction. Plus, he remembered Anna waking up outside the Fire Temple, so maybe, if he happened to find the Earth Temple, he might get a free ride outside as well. It was as good a chance as any. Holding on to that hope, he picked right on a gut feeling and limped off, one hand on the wall for direction, one hand held out in front of him, testing the ground with every step, following the flow of water. He had no idea if he was just going deeper into the dark, but he had to keep going forward. There was nothing else to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, he's still around. For now.


	56. Hunting the Spirits: Elsa - Guilt

Elsa had never before felt such an acute leaden weight in her stomach as she did now. Its intensity was nauseating. Her whole being, her soul, felt numb. The person that had always meant the most to Elsa, the one she most yearned to see happy, was Anna. And the person Anna loved most in the world had died- to save Elsa. How could Elsa ever face her again? To be here, healthy and whole, and face her sister, whose husband was not- because of Elsa? Elsa remembered with bitter irony thinking that her betrayal before the Fall would be the worst thing she ever did to Anna.

Anna was staggering forward in single-minded determination. She had reacted violently whenever someone tried to stop her, so the company just followed, keeping a fair distance. Elsie said Anna was in shock, and to leave her be for now as long as she wasn’t hurting herself or others, so that’s what they did. No one spoke. Before Kristoff’s death, the company had been quiet overall, but still talking to one another, either about the fight or about nothing in particular. Now, it felt like a funeral march. In a way, Elsa supposed it was.

“You okay?”

Elsa jumped. Heins had fallen in beside her, and she hadn’t even noticed. Elsa nodded, swallowed past the lump in her throat, felt the tears well up in her eyes, and then shook her head. “I wish it would have been me,” she whispered.

“It was Kristoff’s choice,” Heins consoled, putting his arm around her and kissing the top of her head as they walked. “I’m sorry it wasn’t me, Elsa.”

Elsa shook her head. “No. You saved Ciri. I never would have forgiven you if you had gone for me instead of her. You did the right thing.”

“Still,” Heins sighed. “... It doesn’t even seem real yet.”

“I know. I’m really worried about Anna.”

“Me too,” Heins agreed. As they watched Anna robotically walk in front of them, her foot caught on an outcropping and she fell to all fours, her knees hitting the rock with a painful sounding thump.

“Anna!” Elsa cried, rushing to her side. The others hung back, watching, afraid to approach for fear of upsetting Anna further. Anna sat back on her knees and looked at her hands. Blood was welling there from several scrapes. Anna just stared down at her hands, watching the blood pool, then run down her wrists and forearms, staining her freckled skin with rivers of red. “Anna?”

Without warning, Anna let out a terrible scream. It rent Elsa to her core. It was the terrible scream of a broken woman. There was so much pain and loss and grief in her voice that Elsa knew at once she would hear Anna’s wail in her nightmares as long as she lived. She reached out and grabbed Elsa, and at first, Elsa was afraid she was about to be throttled to death for her role in Kristoff’s demise, and decided at once not to fight back, but then Anna’s arms were around her and she was crying harder than ever before. Elsa hugged her back, her own heart echoing Anna’s keening cry. Anna’s breath was coming in shorter and shorter gasps, her body twisting faster and faster as the grief overwhelmed her, then she felt someone pulling them apart.

Elsa looked up to see Elsie, who had a small bottle in her hand. “Your Highness, drink this!” she said, shoving the bottle to Anna’s lips, but Anna batted it away, blinded by tears, becoming hysterical. “Hold her! She’s going to hurt herself!”

“Anna, please!” Elsa pleaded, but to no avail. Anna’s eyes were wild with panic and fear. Elsa could see no rational thought behind them. Heins and Silas were first to get to Anna, and they held her arms and head steady while Elsie forced the liquid down Anna’s throat. She coughed and sputtered, but Elsie managed to get her to swallow a fair bit of it.

“Keep holding her, she’ll relax soon,” Elsie said. Elsie was always businesslike when she was doing anything medicinal. It probably helped if she could remove herself from the context the best she could, it would help her stay focused. Right now, she was, on the surface, as clinical as she always was, but Elsa could see her fighting back tears. 

The fight was draining from Anna, and Elsa could see her eyes becoming unfocused and glazed. Heins and Silas lay her gently down on the rocky floor, and Ciri hurried over with a small cushion for her head. Anna’s eyes closed, but her face was still lined with anguish and pain. 

“What did you give her?” Alan asked.

“Poppy milk,” Elsie said, and Elsa could hear a lump in her throat as she cleaned Anna’s hands and wound a soft bandage around them. “It’s a sedative. I found some poppies when we were leaving Weselton, and I collected as much as I could. There’s more, but not much.” She shook her head and took a shaky breath. “I didn’t want to use it, but… if she’d have gotten much more upset… I was afraid she’d use her powers without meaning to again.”

“How long will it last?” Elsa asked, sitting next to Anna and taking her hand.

“A couple hours. We’ll set up a small camp here, we need to keep her calm when she wakes up.”

“I’m going to stay with her.”

Elsie nodded, having expected nothing else, and turned back to the rest of the company to fill them in. Elsa settled in to wait, hoping that her presence and her hand in Anna’s would soothe her.


	57. Hunting the Spirits: Kristoff - Leap of Faith

It was impossible to tell how much time had passed, but Kristoff guessed it had been hours since he fell. He was getting more accustomed to the dark, and his pace had quickened- then again, without the ability to see down a path before setting off along it, he had run into several dead-ends so far. One particularly chilling one had been when the passage narrowed to the point of getting stuck. When he had finally managed to wriggle free, he had taken several minutes to regain his composure. Dying of starvation was one thing. It was another thing entirely to be trapped in the dark, unable to even move as the strength left him.

His fingers were raw and bloody from running them along the walls. There were sharp edges and rough surfaces all along the cave, but Kristoff kept his hand on a wall at all times, even when it felt like the passages were opening wider. If he lost the wall, he could just wander in endless circles in the middle of some cavern. So on he went. He wondered vaguely if it was possible for him to grind his fingers down to the nub, like a carpenter will sand a piece of wood into shape.

It was about three hours in, by his best guess, that he noticed that something was off. He’d always had a good sense of direction. Just by running his hand along the wall, he could build a map in his head of the areas he’d been through, and know where to return to if he hit a dead end. The first oddity was when he entered a small tunnel leading off from his main path. He went around fifteen steps before the tunnel ended in a dead end. It took him thirty to get back to where he’d been. He didn’t immediately notice the magnitude of the queerness of the event, chalking it up to fatigue and smaller steps as he trudged back to the entrance.

The next was much harder to ignore. His right hand was on the wall, and he felt the wall curve towards him, at first gradually, then tighter and tighter. He continued following it, expecting it to straighten back out- but it never did. The wall curved sharper and sharper, until he was walking in a circle, perhaps fifteen feet across. He stopped, feeling a chill run up his spine. This was impossible. The wall couldn’t just keep spiraling inward, eventually, it would have to straighten out or it would run into the wall from before- but it never did. “What the hell is this?” Kristoff muttered. He began backtracking, and his confusion turned to alarm. The wall was not straightening. It simply continued in a circle, round and round. Though he had been in a vast cavern mere moments before, he was now, as far as he could tell, in the bottom of a well, perhaps fifteen feet across. “What?”

He stopped again.  _ What the hell is going on?  _ If he really was somehow in a closed circular chamber, he should be able to walk straight across to the other wall. That would prove if it was just a trick of the darkness and his own fatigue, or if something else was going on. He pressed his back against the wall, and making sure to take straight, equal steps, set off in the opposite direction.  _ Five feet _ … So far so good.  _ Ten feet _ …  _ Fifteen feet…. _ Should be any moment now.  _ Twenty feet…. _ Any minute now, he’d bump into the other wall.  _ Twenty five feet… Thirty feet _ … He stopped. Tired or no, darkness or no, there was no way he was off in his estimation by that much. He turned around and set off, trying to return to where he’d come from. Fifty feet later, he stopped again.

“This isn't possible!” he burst out. He’d gone from a relatively open cavern, into an impossible circle, and now, he was in an apparently empty chamber. He strode forward, determined to find a wall- any wall- to get a fresh start. Despite the care he took to not veer to the left or right, the uneven terrain made it impossible to tell for sure. Still, he pressed on.

Around twenty minutes later, by his estimate, his outstretched arms finally collided with a rough, rocky surface. “Yes!” he hissed. He still had no idea where he was, but he at least could use the wall as he had before, assuming he didn’t stumble into a paradoxical circle again. He walked briskly along it, his right arm on the wall, the other held around head height in case of low-hanging rocks. It was only a few moments later that his left shoulder hit a wall- the cavern was narrowing, and fast. He turned around and went the other way, following the other wall, thinking it should lead him somewhere new. To his shock and alarm, rather than curving away, as he expected, the two walls converged. In both directions. “Oh come on,” Kristoff sighed. He’d thought Anna was hopeless on that trip up to the North Mountain, but he’d somehow managed to get himself stuck in impossible geometry- twice! He turned back around, intending to squeeze through the gap in his original direction, but tripped on the very first step. His feet had struck something that hadn’t been there a moment ago. As he fell forward, he hit something much earlier than anticipated. He straightened back up and took stock of his surroundings.

He’d tripped on an incline, a very steep incline of what felt like loose earth. He felt around, noting with mild annoyance that the narrow gap he’d come through had closed entirely. He had only one way forward- up the hill. “That all you got?” Kristoff taunted. He didn’t know if Titan was putting obstacles in his way somehow, or if it was some other magic, but either way, it wasn’t going to stop him. “You’re gonna have to do better than that if you want to stop me!” he bellowed. His voice echoed around the chamber, dampened and muffled by the pile of dirt. He snorted and started climbing. 

It was grueling work. The dirt was so loose that every time he planted his foot, it would slide back down a foot or more before finally catching hold. Around a half hour in, he lost his footing completely. He overbalanced in the dark, his arms windmilling to try to recover, but it was no use. He toppled backwards, already dreading how far he had to tumble, when his back hit a hard, rough surface. He felt around- it was the same wall he’d begun at, a half hour prior. He’d made no progress whatsoever. “Nope,” he said, starting to climb again. “Not gonna stop me.” 

His legs burned. His forehead poured sweat. His breath came in ragged gasps. And still, he kept climbing. He lost any semblance of time. All there was was the next step. He’d climbed mountains for _fun_ - did anyone really think this little pile of dirt would slow him down? He lifted his foot again, then fell over as it failed to impact the hillside. He landed hard on solid stone once more. He rolled onto his back and sat up. Out of morbid curiosity, he dug through the soil to find a pebble, then threw it back the way he’d come. It impacted the wall in less than a quarter second. He’d climbed for hours, and made it a grand total of about ten feet. He rolled back over and struggled to his feet, feeling around to get his bearings. He could feel the soil hill behind him, and craggy cave floor in all other directions. “What, that’s all you got?” Kristoff muttered. He set off blindly again, coming across a wall within a few paces. “Back to normal? Giving up, huh?”

He’d been walking along for another ten minutes or so when his fingers brushed across something different. It took him a moment to process what he had just felt, and he took several more steps before he realized.

He backtracked, keeping his hand at the same height, feeling for whatever he had run across. It had been smoother, and yet the edges sharper. His fingers found the spot again, and he felt around. There were depressions in the wall, the bottoms smooth, the edges sharp and clean.  _ Someone carved this _ ! he thought, his veins flooding with excitement. He felt out the grooves, trying to work out what it was. It was a carving in the shape of a diamond, with more details inscribed on the inside. Kristoff’s heart stopped. “No way,” he breathed. He leaned closer (again, not sure why, he couldn’t see a damn thing) and examined the symbol with more care. It was most definitely a diamond, and as he felt around, he realized it was the symbol of the Earth Spirit- a downward pointing triangle and a circle above it, with a line between.

“Yes!” He heard the chorus of Kristoffs repeating the cry from the dark, a crowd to share in his celebration. He stood there, quite still, trying to process this development. His mind was racing. If this was the Earth Temple, wasn’t he the one who was supposed to get its power? And if he could get its power, surely he’d be able to use it to escape, right? There was only one problem. He had no idea how he was supposed to go about getting Titan’s power. Anna’s recollection of her Spirit, Ifrit, had been incomplete and unhelpful. Whatever it was, he’d have to figure it out on his own.

First, though, he had to figure out where the entrance was. He moved back and forth along the wall, feeling all around for a seam, a doorway, an opening, something- nothing. He returned to the symbol and pushed, pulled, and prodded every part of it- nothing. He scoured the memory of the night Anna had told him about the Spirits. Titan was… determined. He would go through whatever was in his way, no matter how long it took. Kristoff felt around for a rock, then tapped the wall around the symbol. A faint but distinct echo could be heard from the other side of the wall on the right side of the symbol. “Right… determination. Okay then.” Any remaining doubt he had over what had been toying with him all but vanished at this point. He found a larger rock, one more suited for this type of thing, and started the grueling work of chipping away at the wall.

It was an exhausting process. The rocks he was using were not hard enough to last very long, so he found himself wandering farther and farther from the symbol, searching for replacements. His hands were numb from the impacts, and his arms trembled with fatigue- but he kept going. It would only get harder as he got weaker from hunger. The progress was excruciatingly slow, but he was progressing. On one strike, he felt a rush of air coming from where he had just struck. He felt the spot, and discovered that there was a tiny hole there, with an opening beyond. He worked to widen that hole, and another hour later, it was wide enough for him to squeeze through, but there was no ground on the other side. He leaned out as far as he dared, but it was a sheer wall, and he couldn’t reach the floor no matter how hard he stretched his arms.

Switching tactics, he tried the other way. “Here goes nothing,” he muttered, and climbed through. Holding on to the edge, he lowered his feet as far as he could, but there was still no ground he could feel. He began to pull himself up, to try to tie his spare clothing together into a rope, perhaps, when Anna’s face floated to the front of his memory. 

_ “It took about a year, but I found the temple. I went inside, and then… I can’t really remember what happened next. I just remember falling, and fire, and… anyway, I woke up outside the temple, and, well…” In her hand was a crackling sphere of flame. _

Kristoff took a deep breath, then pushed off the wall, into the dark uncertainty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a fun chapter to write. Originally, I had Kristoff just stumble across the temple by sheer coincidence, but hated how contrived it was. My dad is actually the one who suggested to have Titan "lead" him there, so thanks, dad!


	58. Hunting the Spirits: Elsa - Comfort

For four hours, Anna slept in the soft light emanating from somewhere up ahead, and for four hours, Elsa did not leave her side, nor did she relinquish her grip on Anna’s hand. Heins sat with her for a while, but Elsa did not respond to his comments or questions. She didn’t want to tell him to leave, but didn’t want him there either. There was too much guilt, too much turbulence in her heart. Thankfully, he got the hint, and within half an hour, he had joined the others, leaving Elsa alone with her sister with a farewell comforting hand on her shoulder. Anna did not sleep well. She twitched and whimpered every few minutes, and tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. The feeling of helplessness was suffocating. She couldn’t imagine the grief Anna was in, and the fact that she couldn’t do anything to help was like a physical pain in her heart. 

It wasn’t just for her sister that she mourned. Kristoff was half the reason Elsa wasn’t killed on the ice at the end of the Great Freeze. He had been a loyal friend, a devoted partner to Anna, and a great help to Elsa, both personally and in her duties as Queen. In her heart, she knew her pain paled in comparison to Anna’s- but that did not diminish her own grief. She was surprised at the depth of her loss, not because she did not love Kristoff, but because she had not realized how much she- how much they all- depended on him, his strength, his humor, his good nature, his drive. He never gave up, and that helped them all to keep moving forward. Ironically, it was that very trait that they needed the most now, when it was no longer within reach.

Anna’s eyes fluttered open. They gazed around without seeing for a moment, then Elsa could see them focus and regain their clarity. Anna’s eyes met Elsa’s. For a moment, they looked like Anna’s eyes- shining, bright, full of life. But only a moment. A shadow descended over them, and the light within winked out.

“Hey Anna,” Elsa whispered, leaning forwards, cradling Anna’s hand in both of hers.

“Hey.” Anna’s voice came out hoarse and flat. She licked her lips. “Water.”

“Ciri?” Elsa called, but Ciri was already up and moving.

“I heard her.” Ciri came over with a waterskin, handed it to Elsa, then retreated back to the others. Elsa helped lift up Anna’s head and brought the waterskin up to her lips. Anna took a few sips, but that was all, then laid back down. 

“My throat hurts.” Elsa didn’t know what to say, so she said nothing. Anna slipped her hand out of Elsa’s and put her hands over her face. “I don’t know how much more I can take,” Anna whispered. “This isn’t fair.”

“I know,” Elsa murmured, rubbing Anna’s shoulder, trying to put as much love into the contact as she could, desperate to do something, anything, to provide even the smallest comfort. “I’m so sorry, Anna.”

“That won’t bring him back,” Anna said bitterly. Elsa blinked, taken aback, but before she could respond, Anna sighed, rubbing her eyes and putting her hands back at her sides. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s okay.”

“No it’s not. Nothing is. I don’t know what to do.”

“We keep going,” Elsa said, but even she didn’t fully believe it. There was a problem, a very large, Kristoff-shaped problem with that.

Anna did not fail to notice it, and she struggled to lever herself up on her elbows. “Why? How the hell do we unite the four without four? Isn’t it bad enough he was taken from me? Why did he have to die for nothing?” Tears were flowing fast down her cheeks now. Elsa wrapped her in a hug and stroked her hair as Anna sobbed into her shoulder.

“I’m so sorry, Anna,” Elsa said again, tears pouring from her eyes. “It’s all my fault.” Anna did not contradict her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RIP Elsa's heart


	59. Hunting the Spirits: Kristoff - The Trial of Titan

Kristoff fell through darkness for a long time. So long that he really wasn’t sure if he had already died, and this was his personal hell. Then, what felt like hours later, his vision was flooded with light, and there was a very solid-looking ground rushing up towards him. He didn’t even have time to cry out before he struck it, and now he was surely dead, he had clenched his eyes shut, waiting for the impact, and now he felt no pain, so he must be dead. He opened his eyes. He looked down. It was still him. He wore the same clothes, still damp from the river. He stood on a sandstone floor in a vast cavern. There was no light source that he could see, but his surroundings were evenly bathed in a soft light. He didn’t even cast a shadow. 

A shiver ran up Kristoff’s spine that had nothing to do with the temperature, though it was quite chilly down here. He had fallen for minutes at least, much more than enough time to reach terminal velocity, and yet, he was not dead- well, he didn’t  _ think  _ he was dead. It was still possible, though if this was Hell, it was not living up to its reputation so far. He had expected a lot more fire and torment. Not only was he not dead, the landing hadn’t hurt- he hadn’t even felt it. One moment he was falling in darkness, the next, he was standing in the light.

“Hello?” Kristoff shouted to the emptiness. There was no answer, but the quietness unsettled him more than he expected. It took him a moment to realize why- there had been no echo. The cavern’s walls, which met the floor at a sharp corner, were smooth and rounded, forming a massive dome over him. Kristoff pictured the serving trays from Arendelle’s castle, and the servant was about to remove the domed silver cover, only this time it was rock, and he was the meal. 

It was impossible to tell how high up it stretched, the surface blank and featureless, and the air was quite clear, giving him no reference for distance. It could have been a hundred feet, it could have been a thousand. He examined the bottom of the walls, and could make out no distinctive features at all that might indicate a way out. “HEY!” he shouted again, not really expecting an answer, but it felt good to vent some of his frustration. To his surprise, he got one.

“Welcome, Kristoff, Son of Svend.” The voice was deep and booming, and came from all directions at once. Kristoff jumped at the unexpected sound, his eyes darting around for who had spoken. At first, he saw nothing, but then he saw the ground near him shift and twist, as though the sandstone had become sand once more. A shape was beginning to form, growing out of the earth itself. In seconds, the shape of a man stood before him. Sandy muscles worked beneath an exoskeleton of rock, giving him the appearance of a knight in heavy armor. The eyes were no more than two dark depressions where eyes should be. It was human shaped, but proportioned strangely, with very broad shoulders and longer arms than any man Kristoff had ever seen, reaching down to its knees. 

“What are you?” Kristoff asked, taking a cautious step backward. “Are you Titan?” The shape’s mouth opened in a grin, and Kristoff could see that it was made of dirt and stone on the inside too.

“I am, though no one has known that name for thousands of years. Why have you come here and disturbed my slumber, Kristoff, Son of Svend?”

“I’ve come to ask for your power.” Kristoff spoke carefully and evenly, knowing that he was on very dangerous ground. He needed to keep his answers neat and concise.

Titan’s grin widened. “And you think you are  _ worthy _ of such power?”

“Yes.”

“You lie,” Titan spat, his grin vanishing, replaced with a snarl. “I can see the truth in your heart. The conflict, the fear, the doubt.”

“I’m not afraid.”

“No?” Titan leaned forward. “You  _ lie _ ,” he hissed. “You’re thick with the stench of fear. Fear that you are not strong enough. Fear of losing those you love. Like you lost Lilly.”

Kristoff fought down the lump that rose in his throat. “How do you know about her-”

“Foolish human,” Titan laughed. “I have watched over this world since before your race even came into being. I see all. I know all. I know you come to ask for my aid to defeat the one who is siphoning the Source. I know you mean to unite the four Spirits. And I know… that your determination will fail, crushed beneath the weight of your dread.”

“If you truly believe that, then why did you lead me here?” Kristoff asked in a level voice. He must remain calm, stoic. Getting emotional would only lead to trouble, of one form or another. “Only the Earth Spirit could have done so. I should have died in the dark down here, but I did not, you led me here.” 

“Merely to confirm my suspicions,” Titan spat. “And now I see- you are not worthy. I see much doubt in your heart, Kristoff, Son of Svend.”

Kristoff lowered his eyes to the smooth stone floor. His mind was filling with memories. 

He saw Anna. Anna, in her beautiful dress on their wedding day. The first time he saw her, standing at the counter of Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post (And Sauna). Anna saving his life countless times. Anna smiling at him, her eyes bright and full of warmth, after they made love. Anna excitedly telling him about the day she spent with Elsa at court, silly impressions of nobles included.

He saw Elsa. Elsa thawing the kingdom, her sister at her side at last. Elsa, giggling and red faced, trying to play charades after too much to drink. Elsa patiently instructing him about court manners, never showing frustration no matter how many titles he messed up or etiquette he fumbled. Elsa giving her blessing for his wedding to her sister. Elsa, eyes downcast and blushing, awkwardly asking him for advice on how to deal with her blossoming romance with Heins.

He saw Heins. Heins nervously smiling at him before his impending marriage. Heins smoothly apologizing for the actions of his brother the first time they met. Heins bursting with excitement after he and Elsa had their first date, not knowing Elsa had left only moments before, after confiding in Anna and Kristoff that she would marry him some day.

He saw Lilly. Lilly’s warm, comforting smile when Kristoff had a bad dream. Lilly, her eyes full of nurturing love, teaching him how to make a fish hook. Lilly, playing pretend with him, her face full of joy and laughter. Lilly, laughing as she gave him a piggyback ride, rushing through the trees so that he could know what it would be like when he was old enough to ride a reindeer.

Everyone he had ever loved flowed through his mind, the ones he had lost, and the ones he had not. He looked back at Titan, a grin spreading across his own face now. “ _ You _ lie, Titan. You’re trying to  _ get _ me to doubt. It won’t work. There is no doubt in my heart, Spirit. I need your power to kill Hans and protect those I love, and I  _ will _ get it. Even if I have to take it from you.”

Kristoff had no time to react. One of Titan’s abnormally long arms shot out and struck him in the abdomen, driving the breath out of him and sending him staggering backwards. His feet got tangled up, and he fell over, landing hard on his back, trying to catch his breath.

“You arrogant insect,” Titan’s voice snarled. “You think you can  _ take  _ my power from me?”

“Honestly?” Kristoff grunted, struggling to his feet. “I have no idea. But I won’t let the ones I love suffer and die because you wouldn’t give it to me.” He sprang forward, and this time, he saw the answering blow coming. He twisted his body around the incoming punch, slipping behind Titan’s form and wrapping both arms around his middle. He lifted with all his might, falling back, letting Titan swing over him. Titan’s head slammed into the floor and shattered into dust, quickly followed by the rest of him. Kristoff jumped to his feet, just in time for Titan to reform. 

“What is it you hope to accomplish?” Titan taunted, while Kristoff took a defensive position, expecting a counterattack. 

“Don’t usually think that far ahead,” Kristoff grunted, and was heartened to see the grin reappear on Titan’s face. “I just  _ do _ , that’s all.” He ran forward again, bending low, trying to tackle Titan off his feet- but he ran straight through Titan in a cloud of dust. Without any resistance, he tumbled forward, unable to stop himself falling. He rolled once and sprang to his feet again, just in time for Titan’s reformed arm to smash across the side of his head. 

Stars exploded in his vision and he fell to one knee. His head was pounding from the impact, blood trickled down his face and into one eye, but he didn’t let it stop him. He rose to his feet. He saw the next blow coming, Titan’s right hand jabbing forward. He ducked under it, then drove forward. His right arm came over Titan’s left shoulder, and his left wrapped around Titan’s back in a sort of hug, pinning Titan’s arm over his head. He put his foot behind Titan’s and kicked back, sweeping Titan’s legs out from under him and slamming him into the stone. He burst into dust once more, swirling out of Kristoff’s grasp and reforming mere feet away, looking down at him.

“You know what I am, yes, Kristoff, Son of Svend?” Titan asked, his voice low.

“Yes,” Kristoff grunted, struggling to his feet, wiping the blood from his eye and facing the Spirit, ready for more.

“You know that you cannot defeat me.”

“I figured, yeah.”

“But still you try. Why?”

“Not in me to give up.”

Titan grinned. “Nor me.” The next thing Kristoff knew, he was shrouded in darkness, and then he knew nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And in this chapter, we see that Kristoff has learned some of the ways of How Not To Give a Fuck from Gareth.


	60. Hunting the Spirits: Elsa - Not Your Fault

Anna’s breakdown of grief was much shorter and less panicked this time. She regained her composure in only a few minutes. When Elsa said they could afford to wait a little longer if she needed more time, Anna shook her head. “He wouldn’t want me to give up,” she whispered. Elsa wrapped Anna in a tight embrace.

“I’m proud of you, sis. And he would be too.” Anna hugged her back, then stepped away and addressed the group.

“Sorry everyone.” She held up a hand to stop everyone from protesting, telling her the apology wasn’t necessary, which Elsa could see on most of their lips. “Don’t. I don’t want to-” Her words caught in her throat, and she took a moment to collect herself. “I need to keep going. If I stop again I’ll-” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “So let’s go. Without the map, we’re back to square one. Let’s get above ground and then we can plan our next move.”

There was a murmur of assent, and then they set off. They were not much further from the light now, and it took only a few minutes of careful travel before they could see that it was indeed an exit. It would be a bit of a climb, but the rocks were not sheer, and it could be navigated without too much trouble, especially since Elsa was rested and could make them platforms for the more troublesome areas. Twenty minutes later, they staggered out into the dimming light of the setting sun. The exit they had found was on a small hill in the foothills of the mountains. A dense forest surrounded them. They had been in the cave for a full day. Since Anna had addressed the group, she had not spoken. Elsa was worried. Her face was a subtle sea of grief and pain, and her motions were harsh and clumsy- even for Anna. Elsa had put on a mask often enough to recognize one on her sister.  _ Conceal. Don’t feel. _

“It’s good to be out of there,” Ciri whispered, sidling up to Elsa. Elsa muttered her agreement, but her eyes didn’t leave her sister. Anna was staring into the trees, unmoving. “Is she gonna be okay?”

“She will. Try not to worry, okay Ciri?” Ciri nodded and nudged Elsa towards Anna.

“Go talk to her,” she muttered. Elsa took a deep breath, and approached her sister.

“Anna?” Elsa’s voice was quiet, but Anna still jumped, as though she hadn’t noticed Elsa joined her.

“What?”

“Um… It’s getting late. Do we want to make camp, talk about this in the morning?”

Anna blinked, her eyes glazed over. “Sorry, what?” she asked. Elsa bit back a sob. She couldn’t imagine the storm in Anna’s heart right now.

“I said we’re going to make camp. We can talk about this tomorrow.”

“Huh? Oh, sure. Fine.” Elsa squeezed Anna’s hand and kissed her cheek.

“I love you, Anna.”

“Yeah...”

Elsa’s heart shattered still further, and she slunk away to the others. “We’re making camp. We can figure this out tomorrow. I think a night’s rest will do us good.” There was another chorus of assent as the company spread out and began preparing the camp. Ciri and Elsa set Anna’s tent up for her. When they had finished, Anna walked up to Elsa, still looking a little dazed. She stood in front of her, staring at the ground.

“What is it, Anna?” Elsa asked, when Anna gave no indication of wanting to speak first.

“Donwanbelone,” Anna muttered, not looking up.

“Huh?”

“I don’t want to be alone…” Anna whispered. Elsa could see a tear rolling down her cheek.

“Okay, Anna.” She gestured for Heins to head to bed without her, then followed Anna into her tent. Anna stood there, hands folded in front of her, looking uncomfortable. Elsa took the initiative.

“Come on,” she said, climbing into the bed. “It’ll be just like when we were kids. Remember that?”

Anna chuckled, the sound choked with emotion. “Yeah…” Anna got into the bed with Elsa, then burst into tears. Elsa lay there, holding Anna and softly stroking her hair as she cried on Elsa’s shoulder.

“I know,” Elsa murmured between Anna’s bouts of sobs. “It’s not quite the same, but… at least I’ve got to smell better than Kristoff.”

Anna froze. At first, Elsa was terrified she had said very much the wrong thing, and then Anna started to laugh- a thick, watery laugh, but a laugh. “Yeah,” she choked out, half laugh, half sob. “But that’s not saying much.  _ Sven _ smelled better than Kristoff.” Anna gave Elsa a little squeeze. “Thank you for staying with me tonight…”

Elsa squeezed her back. “You’re welcome. I’m not going anywhere. Try to get some rest, okay?” Anna nodded.

Elsa had just begun to drift off when Anna whispered her name. “Elsa?”

“Hmm…?”

“It’s… not your fault.” A tear leaked between Elsa’s closed eyelids as Anna hugged her a little tighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus chapter that's actually the first part of the next chapter, because I wanted to end this update on a bit more uplifting note.


	61. Hunting the Spirits: Elsa - Loving Reunion

It was only a few hours later that something made a liar out of Elsa. A snapping twig, and then another. Elsa’s eyes flew open. It sounded like footsteps. She looked down. Anna was still clinging to her, her head resting on Elsa’s shoulder. It was a good thing Anna was a heavy sleeper. Elsa slid out from under her, twisting her body so that she could more gently lower Anna to the mattress. Anna mumbled something, and Elsa froze, but then Anna slept on. There was another footstep from somewhere close by. Without the time to pull her boots on or grab her weapon, she solved both problems with magic and left the tent. She went to the middle of camp and listened hard, trying to tell which direction the sounds were coming from.

There was the sound of another footstep, and Elsa whipped her head in that direction, only to see-

“What?” Elsa gasped. The ice blade slipped from her hand and clattered onto the ground. Kristoff was coming into the camp, his hands held out in a pacifying gesture, from the opposite direction of the cave. Elsa’s brain restarted, and she snatched her blade up and pointed it at Kristoff. “That’s not possible,” she snarled. 

“Woah, take it easy Els, it’s me.” It  _ sounded _ like Kristoff, but that was impossible.

“You died,” Elsa said, the absurdity of that statement registering itself a few moments later. “I saw you fall.”

“I did, and I landed in water-”

“Bullshit,” Elsa spat. “From that height you- Kristoff- would have died. You’re a trick. You didn’t even come from the direction of the cave.”

“Elsa?” Anna’s groggy voice came from the tent behind Elsa. “Where did you go-” Anna’s voice cut off abruptly, and Elsa knew- without taking her eyes off the thing in the shape of Kristoff- that she had seen him.

“It’s not really him, Anna,” Elsa said sharply. “Don’t be fooled.”

“Yes, I am, Elsa!” the thing cried. “What are you even talking about?”

“Prove it,” Elsa growled. More people were coming out of their tents now, looks of astonishment mixed with disbelief. “Stay back, everyone,” Elsa called. 

“What the hell, Elsa?” Alan cried, but Elsa sliced her hand through the air to silence him.

“We almost died because we didn’t account for magic we’d never seen. I’m not taking chances.” Alan looked like he wanted to respond, but then seemed to recognize Elsa’s reasoning. She heard Anna come up behind her for a better look. “Prove it!” she ordered again.

“That’s a good point, actually, so fine,” it huffed. It pointed at each member of the company in turn. “Elsa, Anna, Heins, Alan, Cari, Silas, Ciri, Elsie.”

“That’s all stuff anyone could know,” Elsa said. It raised its eyebrows at her, then Anna spoke.

“What’s your sister’s name?”

“What sister?” Elsa asked, bewildered. “Kristoff doesn’t have a-”

“Lilly.” Elsa heard Anna gasp, and Kristoff smiled. “Hey, Anna.”

Elsa meant to ask about the sister again, but before she could, a strawberry blonde rocket shot past her. Anna collided with Kristoff so hard it almost knocked him off his feet, and then Kristoff was picking her up and spinning her around, while Anna cried and laughed in equal measure. That was enough for the rest of them, who rushed forward and dogpiled Kristoff, sending him crashing to the ground in a tangle of limbs and jubilation- all but Elsa and Heins, who joined Elsa. She dismissed the sword with a thought, then looked at Heins.

“Do you think it’s really him?” Elsa whispered, almost not daring to hope.

“I think if Anna thinks so, it is. Did you know Kristoff has a sister?” Elsa shook her head. “Maybe only Anna does.”

Kristoff fought his way back to his feet as the celebration died down. He looked at Elsa as the company parted a bit, looking back and forth between them. “It’s really me, Elsa.” Elsa’s restraint broke, and she ran forward. Kristoff raised his arms, and then she was hugging him, and he was hugging her, and it  _ was _ him.

“Thank you for saving my life,” she mumbled into his ear, then she kissed his cheek- or rather, the scraggly beard on top.

“You’re welcome,” he whispered back, kissing her cheek in return, then breaking apart. “Try to watch your step next time, okay?” Elsa laughed and nodded, wiping her eyes. Heins approached Kristoff.

“Thank you, Kristoff.” He pulled Kristoff into a tight hug. “I owe you.”

After a few more celebratory hugs, the company, all thought of sleep forgotten, gathered around a fire. Anna was sitting so close to Kristoff it looked like she was half sitting on his leg, and her hands clenched one of his. “So what the hell happened?” Heins asked. 

“Well, after my noble and heroic sacrifice-” Anna elbowed him- “I mean, after I bravely and selflessly threw myself in harm’s way-” Anna elbowed him harder- “Okay, fine. After I  _ fell _ , I knew I only had one chance. Ravines like that don’t form for no reason, I just hoped the water was still there. And it was. Screwed up my ankle and back a bit when I landed, but at least I survived. Couldn’t see a thing, so I just tried to remember the map and guessed which way to go. A while later I came across the Earth Temple.”

“You found it?” Elsa exclaimed.

“I did, with some help, anyway.”

“What do you mean?” Heins asked.

“Hard to explain, exactly,” Kristoff said, shrugging. “I think Titan was messing with the earth down there. Walls would move, hills that were only a few feet tall took me an hour to climb. But I couldn’t see anything, so I couldn’t be completely sure. Eventually, I found it. Getting in was a pain in my ass, though. I had to break through a rock wall.”

“Big deal,” Anna scoffed. “I did too.”

“No, I don’t mean a wall of rocks,” Kristoff corrected. “I mean a wall of solid rock.”

“Oh,” Anna grumbled. “Well mine was hard too.”

Kristoff grinned and put his arm around Anna, and she relaxed against his shoulder, a peaceful look on her face as Kristoff continued. “Unfortunately, that’s about all I remember. I remember going in, and falling, and then- poof. I was out here.”

“So did you find the Earth Spirit?” Ciri asked, her face lit up with excitement.

“No idea. I mean… I don’t feel any different.”

“Neither did I,” Anna said. “And it took a while to figure out how to use my powers.”

“How did you?”

“Well, it was sort of by accident,” Anna admitted. “I got mad that I couldn’t figure it out, and it turns out, that’s sort of what I needed.”

“That explains your… disposition a while back then, huh?” Elsa asked, smirking. Anna stuck her tongue out at her.

“What do you use, Elsa?” Kristoff asked.

“Well… I think it’s love. Sort of.”

“That actually makes sense,” Anna said, twisting her mouth to the side in thought. “Anger’s fine. Too much and it becomes rage and I lose control. Love is fine. Too much love leads to fear or obsession, and you lose control.”

“So if it’s different feelings for you two,” Alan said. “Does that mean it’ll be something else for Kristoff?”

“What was it you said about Titan back then, Anna?” Elsa asked.

“He’s the determined one. Which describes you to a T,” Anna said affectionately, ruffling Kristoff’s hair.

“So what am I supposed to think about?” Kristoff asked, pushing Anna’s hand away, though he could not stop the grin from spreading across his face.

“What do you want?” Heins asked, sitting forward. “I mean, if Titan uses determination to some degree, I would think you need to focus on a goal. What do you want, Kristoff?”

“I want to protect people. I want to end the Empire. I want to keep you safe.” He said this last part looking at Anna. Elsa and Heins exchanged a puzzled glance. It was obvious enough why Kristoff would want to protect Anna, but the way he had said it suggested something more.

“So focus on that,” Elsa said, after an awkward silence. “Imagine Anna’s in danger, and you have to save her.”

Anna grinned and adopted a heavily accented falsetto. “Oh Kristoff, save me!” she cried, swooning with her forearm over her face. There was a smattering of laughter, but Kristoff had his eyes closed, his brow furrowed in concentration. Everyone was looking around, searching for any signs of motion from the ground. A minute passed in silence, then Kristoff huffed and opened his eyes.

“I don’t even know if I got the power,” he sighed.

“You did,” Anna said. “I’m sure of it.” She jumped to her feet. “Right. You want to protect me? Get going.” Before Elsa could ask what she meant, Anna had launched a ball of fire at Elsa. She dove to the side, the fire missing her by inches and splashing across the ground. Shouts of alarm rang out.

“What the hell are you doing?” Heins shouted, but Anna was grinning.

“Come on sis,” Anna taunted. “Whatcha got?” Elsa grinned back. If it was a fight she wanted, it’s a fight she would get.

“Anna, stop!” Kristoff cried, moving to grab her arm, but she danced out of the way.

“Nuh-uh-uh,” she sang. “No touching. Powers only. Better get to work.” Elsa used the opportunity to blast icicles (with dulled tips, of course- she wasn’t stupid) at Anna, who just barely managed to dodge in time, her grin vanishing, replaced with a grimace of alarm, before returning. The rest of the company had wised up to what was going on and were scrambling back to give a wide berth. “Oh, so it’s like that?” Anna laughed. She flicked her wrist, and Elsa saw what she was doing just in time. She leapt backwards, her hand sweeping out and down at the same time, smothering the emerging flames Anna had summoned.

“This is a terrible idea!” Kristoff cried.

“Better do something then!” Elsa called. Flinging her hand in a circular motion, she trapped Anna in a globe the same as she had once protected Ciri.

“I don’t know how!”

“Then figure it out!” came Anna’s muffled voice from within the globe, which had begun to glow bright red, and then Anna dove out of its side, a jet of flame escaping the jagged hole. She rolled and came up in a crouch, her arm swiping from left to right. Elsa jumped behind a tree, which shielded her from the thin wave of fire. She took advantage of the momentary respite to summon a club, which she gripped with both hands. She emerged, and as she hoped, Anna threw a ball of fire at her. She swung at it with all her might, enjoying the way the grin on Anna’s face turned to shock as the ball came flying back at her, even faster than before. She dropped to the dirt, and it missed her by inches.

“Stop!” Kristoff shouted. “You’re going to kill yourselves!”

To Elsa’s alarm, Anna did not resume her grin when she stood back up. On her face was a vicious snarl. “Anna?” Elsa asked, and then Anna was unleashing a torrent of fire at her, stronger and hotter than before. Elsa answered it with a blast of her own. Hissing steam erupted in the middle as Anna took several steps forward, then angled her magic to send both magics spiraling into the sky. For just a moment, their eyes met, and Anna smirked and gave a wink before appearing just as angry as before, resuming the jet of flame. With one hand, Elsa held her at bay, and with the other, summoned a sword. She spun to the side, letting Anna’s flame shoot past her and slam into the trees, then, before Anna could readjust, sprinted forward, swinging the sword expertly, which Anna dodged with equal precision.

“Elsa!” Kristoff screamed. “Stop!” Elsa continued to drive forward, Anna occasionally blasting Elsa’s sword aside with her magic before dodging Elsa’s counter. “ELSA!”

Anna tripped and fell. Elsa swung her blade towards her, aiming to the side, away from Kristoff, but to him, it must look like she’s going for a killing blow. Before the blade had descended more than halfway, a tremendous force struck Elsa in the midsection. The air in her lungs and the blade in her hand both escaped her with comparable velocity, and she flew through the air, landing hard on her back in a pile of sticks and leaves. 

“WOOHOO!” Elsa heard Anna cry, and there were more cheers from the woods around them. “You did it!” Elsa lifted her head, dazed, and saw that there was a column of stone sticking a few feet out of the ground where she had been standing. “Elsa, you okay?”

Elsa tried to call back, but there was not enough air in her lungs to do so. Instead, she gave a weak thumbs up before letting her arm fall back to the side. Elsa could hear Kristoff yelling angrily at Anna, and Anna’s only response was “Well it worked!” Heins appeared in Elsa’s vision, looking down at her with an exasperated grin.

“I feel like there may have been a better way to do that,” he said, holding out his hand to help her up. She ignored it for now, still trying to catch her breath. Heins squatted down next to her. “That was quite the battle.”

“And that was us holding back,” Elsa groaned. 

“I’d hate to see what it looks like if you’re not.”

Elsa looked over at Anna, who was now excitedly encouraging Kristoff to keep trying, squealing with delight when he got something to work. “Me too.”


	62. Hunting the Spirits: Anna - Determination

Once they had worked out where they were (it was a very good thing Kristoff was back, or else they never would have found their way out of the forest, at least until Gareth got back from his check-ins with Kristoff’s network), the company slowly made their way towards the shore, their next stop- the Air Temple. Slowly, because Anna and Elsa were trying to help Kristoff adjust to his powers, with almost nothing to show for it.

Other than a small amount of success that first night, Kristoff was making frustratingly little progress on his control over the Earth Spirit. Anna had a brand new appreciation for every millisecond she got to spend with him, but the hours he spent with her and Elsa, trying to figure out his powers, were beginning to test her patience. She understood very well how difficult it was to gain the type of control Elsa had, and Anna still had not reached that level of precision, but Kristoff struggled to do so much as move a pebble. 

As far as they could tell, his powers worked differently than hers or Elsa’s. While both sisters could conjure their element at will, Kristoff was dependent on the existing earth in order to use his power. He could manipulate earth, sand, and stone at a distance, but to do so required extraordinary amounts of energy. Not only that, his precision was shockingly bad. As a test, Elsa had created several round targets with her ice, only ten feet from Kristoff. Anna rooted around the dirt to find a dozen or so small pebbles, and Kristoff tried to throw them with his powers at the targets. Simple enough. His first attempt was so off the mark that the pebble actually struck Anna in the cheek, even though she was standing well off to the side and behind Kristoff.

It was like every time Kristoff tried to do something with his powers, he was so focused on getting  _ anything _ to happen that what actually  _ did _ happen was entirely unpredictable. At first, Anna (and the bruise on her cheek) brushed it off as Kristoff just adjusting to the new experience. As the hours stretched into days, and Kristoff’s control showed no improvement, Anna, though it shamed her, began to get annoyed. She tried not to show it, but she was never very good at hiding her emotions- particularly from Kristoff. She knew it wasn’t even all that fair. She had no idea how different Titan’s power was from Ifrit’s. It had taken her weeks to even approach competency with hers. But still, she couldn’t help but feel that he was not progressing as fast as he should be, and in a private confession with Elsa, she agreed. There was something holding Kristoff back, some block, like the one Elsa had struggled for so long with.

Anna decided to broach the topic one night after they had stopped practice for the day. They had left the forest behind several days prior, and now were crossing a grassy plain. The sea was just visible on the horizon, but it was still days away. Anna gestured to Elsa to go on without them, as Kristoff stormed away, stopping and staring towards the setting sun. Anna walked up behind Kristoff and wrapped her arms around his middle, laying her head on his back.

“What’s on your mind, Kristoff?” she asked gently.

He pulled her hands apart and stepped away. The rejection stung, but Anna tried to brush it aside. “I know you’re frustrated,” Kristoff mumbled, still facing away.

“No I’m not-”

“Don’t treat me like I’m an idiot, Anna.” His voice was bitter. “I can see it. You and Elsa think I’m not learning fast enough.”

“... Yes. But not because you can’t, or that you’re not good enough!” she added, before he got upset. “We’ve been talking, and… It’s like when Elsa was trying to suppress her magic, or when I couldn’t keep my anger in check. We both struggled with mental blocks. I think you have one too. There’s something holding you back.”

“Oh, you think?” he shot back. Anna felt a small flicker of anger, but she quashed it. He was just frustrated.

“Kristoff, I’m trying to help.”

“I know,” he huffed. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay. Come here.”

He did. He came to her, and she took his hand and led him to a tree a short distance away. They sat down next to each other, her thumb stroking the back of his hand, his other arm around her waist, watching the sunset.

“How do you use your magic, Anna?” he asked after a few moments of quiet appreciation of the reds and golds shooting across the sky. “I know you said Ifrit is based on anger, Shiva on love, or compassion I suppose. But how do you get from ‘I’m mad’ to ‘magic’?”

“Well…” It was a complicated question, with a complicated answer, and it took Anna a little while to answer. He did not press her, just watched the fading sun with a stormy expression. “I think… Do you remember when Elsa froze the kingdom?”

“No, I don’t recall,” Kristoff said, smirking. She nudged him with her shoulder, smiling back.

“She didn’t just cause snow. Or freeze a bunch of water. Her magic, and mine, and yours, draw from our own strength to work, right?” Kristoff nodded. “But I don’t think that’s exactly right. Why is it that Elsa gets exhausted from using her powers too much now when she  _ accidentally _ magically changed the weather in an entire kingdom?”

Kristoff frowned. “I don’t know… I guess I never really thought about it.”

Anna nodded. “I didn’t either, until I had magic of my own. My working theory, and Elsa agrees, is that it’s not taking energy to  _ use _ the magic, it’s the energy to  _ shape  _ it, to  _ control _ it. When Elsa didn’t even know she was doing it, she used magic thousands of times stronger than anything she’d done before or since. I think it’s because that was the raw, untempered power of Shiva escaping her, without any direction from her whatsoever. No limits, but also no control.”

“So why isn’t she always wreaking havoc?” Kristoff asked. “I mean, if she didn’t mean to use the magic, then how did she?”

“That’s where the emotion part comes in,” Anna said. “Elsa fled the kingdom that night because she was terrified of hurting the ones she loved and cared about, and so that compassion came pouring out of her. But it wasn’t the right  _ kind _ of compassion to be able to control it. It was… an unhealthy obsession with keeping others safe at her own expense. All the love only flowed one way. It wasn’t until she ‘opened the gates’, so to speak, that she was able to balance it out, and allowed others to love her. That brought her powers into balance, and though she’s weaker now than she was when she froze my heart- well, at least she hasn’t frozen my heart again.”

Kristoff fixed her with a level stare. “You really are something, you know that?” he said quietly. Anna felt her cheeks flush.

“What do you mean?” she asked, trying not to giggle (unsuccessfully).

“I never would have thought about all this,” he said. “Any of what you just said. You’re just… extraordinary.” Anna bit her lip, then pulled him into a long kiss. When they broke apart, she wasn’t the only one a little redder than before.

“So… what about you?” he asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

“What do you mean?” Anna asked, a little lightheaded.

“Your ‘block’.”

“Oh. Oh, right!” She had all but forgotten what they had been talking about. “Well, mine’s a little more straightforward, I think. First, I just thought about Hans. That’s all I needed to unleash the magic, but just like Elsa, when I did it that way, I had almost no control. I mean... “ Anna dropped her gaze. “Did you see what I did to Arendelle?”

“I didn’t,” Kristoff muttered. “But I heard about it.”

“The more I used my powers that way, the harder it was to let the anger go when I wanted to, and the angrier I got when I didn’t want to, and the more dangerous I became.”

“That’s what happened the day after Elsa got hurt, right?”

Anna nodded miserably. “When I burned Heins.”

Kristoff gave her a gentle shake. “Don’t beat yourself up, Anna. You didn’t do it on purpose.”

“Doesn’t mean it wasn’t my fault,” Anna muttered, then shook her head. “But that’s my thing. We’re helping you.” Kristoff opened his mouth to reply, but Anna shushed him and continued. “So I had to figure out a different way. What I eventually realized is- if the ‘unhealthy’ part of compassion is an unreasonable fear of harming others, what’s the unhealthy part of anger?”

Kristoff thought for a moment. “Hatred.”

“Exactly!” Anna exclaimed, kissing his cheek. “You got it. Once I realized that, I stayed away from things like Hans. I started thinking about less… what’s the word? Angering?”

“Infuriating?” Kristoff suggested.

“Yes!” Anna said, snapping her fingers. “Less infuriating things.”

“Like what?”

“Like the times you’ve been an ass,” Anna said at once. Kristoff frowned. 

“This is serious, Anna.”

“So am I. Kristoff, I love you more than anything else in this world, but if you think you’ve never pissed me off, you’re crazier than Hans. But no matter how angry I get at you, I could never cross the line into hatred of you. Or Elsa, for that matter, who has been the fuel for the fire- hehe, literally, I didn’t even mean to do that- more than once. It keeps me from losing control.” She fell silent for a moment, then said, “You know, even after the Fall, I thought I hated you- hated you both- but I didn’t.”

“Maybe you should have,” Kristoff muttered.

“Maybe,” Anna admitted. “But… no, this isn’t about me- we’re helping  _ you _ right now. The point is, I can’t hate you guys, so it keeps me from losing control.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Kristoff said after a moment, when it became clear Anna was not going to elaborate on what she’d said. “So what the hell is the unhealthy part of determination?”

Anna thought, nibbling on her bottom lip. “I’m not sure… stubbornness?”

“Single-mindedness, maybe?”

“Obsession? No, that’d be love, right?”

The two of them rattled off another few guesses, but none of them seemed quite right. Eventually, Anna asked him to say again what his goals are that he focuses on.

“Protecting you and defeating the Empire, mainly.”

“Why do you want to defeat the Empire?”

Kristoff blinked, surprised at the question. “What do you mean?”

“Kristoff. It’s just me. I know why. I want  _ you _ to say it.”

He looked at the ground. “To protect you. You’re not safe as long as the Empire exists.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, Kristoff, but… I don’t exactly need protection at this point. Not the way I used to. Oh!” She gasped and snapped her fingers. “That’s it!” she exclaimed, breaking into a grin. “It’s not the  _ determination _ that’s unhealthy, it’s the goal!” She rocked forward and turned so that she sat in front of Kristoff, and took both his hands in hers. “You’re trying to draw your determination from within, to protect me. I don’t  _ need _ your protection. Do you know what I need?” He shook his head. “Your  _ support _ . I can take care of myself, but with you, I can do so, so much more. Let  _ that _ be your goal! Let me inspire you! You don’t have to do it all on your own! Elsa!” she shouted, standing up and turning towards the camp. “Come here!”

“What are you-”

“Shushhhh,” Anna muttered, putting a finger to his lips. She could barely contain her excitement. A few moments later, Elsa appeared, looking curious.

“What is it, Anna?”

“Make the targets again!” Elsa looked concernedly at Kristoff.

“Are you sure..?” Anna nodded, beaming at Elsa. “Okay…” She tapped her foot, and the round targets grew from the earth once more, gleaming like crystal statues in the soft glow of the sunset.

“Alright, don’t let me melt them, okay?” Elsa glanced at her, confused. “Trust me.” Elsa nodded. Anna turned and pulled Kristoff to his feet. “Help me!” she said, then blasted a (weak, she didn’t want to tire Elsa out) jet of flame at the closest target. Elsa maintained the magic, and the ice didn’t melt. “Come on Kristoff, help me out!”

Kristoff closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Both Elsa and Anna watched him, anticipation scrawled across both their faces. Then he opened his eyes, and both gasped. There was something different about them, about  _ him _ . It was like Anna’s eyes, or Elsa’s, when they were deep in the flow of their magic. His eyes had gotten darker, and his irises had taken on a rocky appearance.

He raised one hand in front of him, and the earth at his feet exploded in a shower of dirt and grass, and then there was a rock- no, a boulder, floating into the air. Continuing the motion, Kristoff spun on his heel and kicked out at the rock. It rocketed across the grass with fearsome speed, then collided with the target. As it made contact, Anna saw Elsa gasp with sudden effort as the boulder continued its motion, and then she yielded, stopping the flow of her reinforcing magic. The target exploded in a shower of ice, the boulder, barely slowed by the impact, smashed onto the ground thirty feet behind it, then rolled another fifty.

“YESSS!” Anna squealed, jumping up and down, elated. Kristoff stood there, looking disbelieving, a smile slowly spreading across his face, and Elsa, though breathing a little harder, was beaming. Anna ran at Kristoff and jumped into his arms, hanging off his neck as she hugged him.

“Well done, Kristoff!” Elsa congratulated, coming just a bit too close- Anna’s hand shot out and seized her, pulling her into the hug as well. She pulled back at first, but then acquiesced and joined in the impromptu celebration.


	63. Hunting the Spirits: Elsa - Planning

The next few days went much smoother than before. Now that Kristoff had an idea of what he needed to focus on, he was progressing much faster in his mastery of his powers. Baldur and Leila made their long awaited return as well, having had to take very long detours to avoid the Empire on their way back. The day they expected to reach the shore, Elsa called a meeting before setting off that morning.

“What’s up, Els?” Kristoff asked, as he flopped down on the grass next to Anna. The company was sitting in a loose circle and looking curiously at Elsa, who still stood near the center.

“We need to decide next steps.”

“Find the Air Temple, right?” Heins asked.

“Well, yes, but I mean for after that.” She went and joined the others around the circle, sitting down between Heins and Ciri. She wanted everyone’s input, and standing in the middle like that made it seem like she was about to give orders. 

“We’ve got three Spirits so far. One more and we’ve united the four- but we don’t know what that means, exactly. We also know something called the Source is involved to at least some degree, which may or may not be connected to the girl the four of us-” she gestured to Anna, Kristoff, and Heins- “have seen. I think that, even with all four spirits, we won’t be able to kill Hans if he has the Source. I also know that killing Hans on its own won’t work- someone will just fill the power vacuum. We need to start a revolution. Killing Hubert was a good step, but I want to keep that momentum going. I would like to propose that we divide and conquer. Some of us will go to the Southern Isles and seek the Air Temple. The others will remain on the mainland and gather as much information as possible about the Source, while stoking the fires of rebellion wherever you go. This will not be easy, and I can offer almost no direction, you’ll have to figure it out on your own. All I can offer is to start with Ignis and hope for the best. Either buy or steal some horses and travel fast.”

A profound silence greeted her words. “I think…” Anna said. “That’s going to be a much bigger task than finding the Air Temple. I think it’s a good idea, and I think we should leave as many on the mainland as we can.”

“Agreed,” Kristoff said, as did Heins, and Alan, Cari, Baldur- everyone around the circle. “Alright, so the question is more who goes than who stays.”

“Heins has to go, which means Elsa goes,” Anna said. “In fact- Elsa needs to go anyways, unless one of you has a boat we can borrow.” Elsa chuckled along with the rest. “Pretty much everyone else is able to stay.”

“I’d like you and Kristoff to come too,” Heins piped up. Anna tilted her head at him. He shrugged. “If we’re supposed to unite the four, shouldn’t we do it sooner, rather than later?” 

“Whatever _floats_ your _boat_ ,” Anna said, pumping her eyebrows. “Eh? Eh?” No one laughed. “Fine,” Anna huffed, crossing her arms. “So the four of us?”

“Would you like me to come?” Elsie asked. The four of them exchanged a glance.

“Your talents could certainly prove helpful,” Anna mused.

“No,” Elsa decided, and the other three indicated their agreement. “Thank you, Elsie, but with any luck, we won’t have need of your skills, and Anna is right- the more people here, the better. Do you mind assisting here- staying with Ignis, perhaps?”

“Not at all, Your Majesty.” In fact, Elsie looked somewhat relieved. 

“What about you, Ciri?” Anna asked after a moment’s pause. Ciri, who had been straddling the line between trying to catch Elsa’s eye and trying to be invisible, looked between Elsa and Anna, her brow furrowed with worry. 

Elsa hesitated. This would be different than traveling across the countryside. They would be heading into the densely populated and heavily defended Southern Isles. It would be impossible to ensure Ciri’s safety there. But she didn’t want to send her away, either. 

“Ciri-” Elsa started to say, but then Elsie interjected.

“Why don’t you go with them?” she said, with a significant look at Elsa. “I’ve got the Ignis thing handled, you go help them out.”

Ciri looked between them, her expression guarded. “Ciri…” Elsa murmured. “It’ll be dangerous. The Southern Isles are not as open as the mainland. There will be a lot of Empire presence there.”

“I know. I don’t care.”

“Ciri, please. Think this through,” Kristoff implored. “This isn’t like where we’ve been. There will be Empire everywhere, and we’re public enemies one through four.”

Ciri laughed. “You guys don’t get it, do you?” She looked around at them all, still laughing and throwing out her arms. “I don’t care.” Her eyes locked onto Elsa’s. “What else am I supposed to do? Go with them?” She gestured towards the Queensguard. “As they try to steal secrets from the Empire? Seems perfectly safe. Or go to Ignis’s? The man who’s been captured by the Empire once already and is probably as wanted as you four for what he knows? Or maybe I’ll just go home. How long do you think it would take for the Empire to kill me then?”

Elsa still wasn’t convinced. Anna was looking at her as well, and she mouthed something to Elsa that took her a moment to process. “ _Nowhere is safe_ ”. Then Anna shrugged, giving a small indication towards Elsa. The meaning was clear. " _It’s your call_ ”.

“If we bring you with us, you have to promise me something,” Elsa said.

“What is it?” Ciri asked, narrowing her eyes.

“You will do as I say, or any of us say, without question or argument. You will just obey. No matter what we tell you to do.”

“Oh,” Ciri sighed in relief. “Yeah, I promise.”

But Elsa wasn’t done. “Let me make myself very clear. If we tell you to hide, you hide. If we tell you to run, you run. If we tell you to leave us behind and save yourself, you get the hell out of there and don’t even look back.”

“But-”

“No buts, Ciri. If you cannot promise me- swear to me- that you will do as any of us say, at once, then I will tie you to Cari and she will drag you to Ignis’s lab, whereupon you will be locked in the basement until we return.” 

“Happily, Your Majesty,” Cari said without a moment’s delay. Ciri glanced at Cari, unnerved at her willingness to go along with Elsa’s plan. 

“You wouldn’t need to-” 

“So you _wouldn’t_ intend to follow us as soon as we were out of sight, then?” Elsa said.

Anna sniggered. “She totally would.”

“One hundred percent,” Kristoff agreed.

“Yeah, sounds right,” Heins chuckled. 

Ciri’s face went red. “You don’t _know_ that,” she muttered. “Fine.” She took a deep breath and met Elsa’s eyes. “I promise.”

“I _mean_ it, Ciri,” Elsa stressed.

“I know. I promise.” And Elsa could see sincerity in her eyes.

“Alright,” Elsa said, then looked around. “Any questions, anyone?”

“Where will we rendezvous upon your return?” Silas asked. 

“Ignis’s. I can get the message out,” Kristoff said. “Gareth, tell them how to receive them.” Silas and Gareth nodded.

No one else spoke, so Elsa clapped her hands together. “Well, no time like the present. Good luck, everyone.”

“Oh, one more thing,” Kristoff said, as the group started dispersing. “Gareth, Queensguard- a moment? I have another job for you- a favor, if you will.”

“What’s this about?” Elsa asked, her curiosity piqued.

“It’s a surprise, Your Majesty. Trust me- you’re gonna love it.” Intrigued, but willing to let the matter drop for now, Elsa turned back to Heins.

“Alright,” she said. “Let’s get to work. I’ve got a ship to make.”


	64. Hunting the Spirits: Heins - Shipbuilding

Once the others had set off, it took Elsa most of the day to construct the ship they would take to Heins’s homeland. Other than constructing a rudimentary drydock for her, Kristoff and Anna’s powers were both useless for this type of work. Anna lacked the ability to create anything that would sustain itself, and while Kristoff’s powers could potentially rival, or even surpass, Elsa’s for construction once he got more practice, the fact that he could only use earth and rock meant that he could not assist in creating anything meant to float. So Elsa worked all throughout the day, building the ship deck by deck, at Heins’s instruction. The rough waters of the Southern Sea could test even the hardiest ship, and so Elsa’s work had to be precise. More than once, Heins regretfully told her to melt a portion of the ship to try again. 

Even once the hull was completed, she then set about the arduous task of creating the sails and rigging, which strained both her abilities and Heins’s memory of old lessons and childhood days he spent on the seas to the highest degree. She had never created fabric this large, and it took several tries to figure out how to create a rope. Heins had once asked her how exactly ice powers gave her the unrelated ability to create fabric, and she told him that it wasn’t fabric, not really. It was millions and millions of minute, interlocking rings of ice, that once created, could be woven together to form what looked and felt like a cold, velvety fabric. It was the main reason she had never made clothes for anyone but herself. While the faux velvet did not feel quite as cold as ice to the touch, the air around it was still quite a lot cooler. By creating what were basically single threads of this icy chain, then weaving them together, she was able to make a rope that was not _quite_ as flexible as normal rope, but many times stronger, which was more important while sailing anyway.

Ciri, who seemed determined to prove as useful as she could, waited on Elsa hand and foot while she worked, fetching her water and food, and even shading her with a giant leaf she found on a fern near the shore. Elsa had at first protested this level of service, but as the day wore on and she became more and more exhausted, she began accepting it gratefully. With not much else to do, Anna and Kristoff practiced their magic, and despite much prodding and pleading, and even a few threats from Anna, Kristoff did not reveal what he had asked the Queensguard to do.

As the sun touched down on the horizon, a magnificent gleaming caravel rested on the drydock’s supports. The golden red sunset shone through triangular, translucent sails of pale blue with breathtaking beauty. Heins climbed aboard and inspected the construction, marveling at the skill with which his wife had crafted her. He tested the wheel, admiring the smoothness with which it maneuvered the rudder. A few minutes later, he hopped back down and smiled. “She’s gonna be a little cold, but she’s good to go.”

“Sorry about that,” Elsa said. She had flopped down onto the sand once she finished her task, her eyes drooping with exhaustion.

“Elsa, you made a ship in less than a day,” Anna said, looking at her sister in admiration. “I don’t think it being a little chilly makes it any less amazing.”

Elsa smiled, but it barely reached the bags beneath her eyes. “Thanks.”

“It’s beautiful,” Ciri breathed, her eyes full of wonder.

“ _She’s_ beautiful,” Heins corrected. “Ships are always a she.”

“Oh,” Ciri said, then frowned. “Why?”

“Uhhh…” Heins had no idea, and from the looks on everyone else’s faces, neither did they. “They just are, I guess.”

Ciri cocked her head, then a mischievous grin spread across her face. “Isn’t the Southern Isles’ whole _thing_ sailing?”

“Yeah, well… shut up.” Ciri laughed along with the rest, and even Heins chuckled, then said, “She needs a name before we set out. Bad luck to set sail without a name.”

“Why?” Ciri prodded, grinning again. Heins made a pompous show of ignoring her.

“How about ‘Miracle’?” Kristoff chuckled. When everyone looked at him in confusion, he continued, “I mean, if he doesn’t know anything about sailing, it’ll be a miracle if Heins doesn’t kill us all.”

“You guys are jerks,” Heins said casually as they broke out giggling again. 

“The ‘Trust Me I Know What I’m Doing’?” Anna chuckled.

“The ‘I’m From The Southern Isles, I Promise’?” Ciri suggested.

“The ‘Oh Crap Is That Supposed To Make That Sound’?” Kristoff countered.

“The ‘Help Help I’m Drowning’?” Anna laughed.

“Guys, that’s enough,” Elsa said, but the glint in her eye told Heins this was no rescue. “Clearly it’s just-” then she flailed her arms about, making gurgling noises, and Heins joined in the laughter. When they had settled down, Elsa took on a pensive expression. “Seriously, though… How about… I don’t know, maybe ‘Spirit’? No, never mind, that’s dumb.”

“No,” Anna said, nodding. “I like it. It… fits, you know?”

“Me too,” Kristoff agreed.

“I mean, you built it- her, I mean,” Ciri said, sticking her tongue out at Heins. “It’s only right that you name it anyway, right?” 

“It’s settled, then?” Anna asked, to a chorus of nods. “All aboard the Spirit!” she exclaimed.

“Nope,” Heins said, and he felt a small sense of vindictive pleasure at seeing Anna’s face fall. Serves her right for picking on him. “We’ll have to leave in the morning. It’s dangerous to sail so close to land at night, and the tide is all wrong, too. We’ll set sail tomorrow.” Anna groaned. She didn’t do boredom very well, and looked like she wanted to keep grumbling, but then Heins saw a look pass between Anna and Kristoff. He didn’t understand what the look signified, but whatever it was, Anna quieted down at once. Heins shot a puzzled glance at Kristoff, who just shook his head subtly, then stepped forward.

“Anna, why don’t you make us a campfire over there?” Kristoff said, gesturing towards a spot on the beach that overlooked both the Spirit and the beautiful sunset. She nodded, and set off into the sparse woods to gather firewood. “Ciri, can you help Elsa get there? I can make us some chairs, I think,” he finished, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck with a grin.

“I’m fine to walk,” Elsa said, climbing to her feet, immediately proving herself wrong, swaying as though drunk and almost falling before Ciri could slip under her arm and support her. “Okay, yeah, good call.” She trudged away, leaning heavily on Ciri.

“What’s going on, Kristoff?” Heins asked. Kristoff looked slightly ill, as though he had a foul taste in his mouth.

“Got something to tell you guys is all.”

A name floated to the front of Heins’s mind. “This has something to do with Lilly, doesn’t it?” The grim expression on Kristoff’s face was all Heins needed as an answer. “I take it this isn’t a fun story?” Kristoff shook his head. “You sure you want to do this?” A nod. “Alright.” He saw Elsa and Ciri get to the spot Kristoff had indicated and look back. “Uh… can you make some chairs, or do you want Elsa to-”

“No, she’s done more than enough today. I can do it.” He glanced behind him, towards Elsa and Ciri, and swept his arm in an upward motion. Five sandstone lounge chairs burst from the beach in a rough circle, and without so much as testing the structure, Elsa flopped down into one. Heins whistled.

“You’re getting good at that.” 

“Sand’s easier. I can shift solid rocks into shapes, but it’s hard. Sand flows.”

“Makes sense. Here comes Anna,” Heins added, gesturing to her as she came out of the woods, her arms full of branches.

“Go ahead,” Kristoff said. “I’ll be over there in a second.”

“Alright.” Heins clapped him on the shoulder and joined the others around the growing fire.


	65. Hunting the Spirits: Elsa - Kristoff's Tale

Elsa was more exhausted than she had been since… well, ever. She was now one hundred percent certain that her and Anna’s theory about why the use of their magic exhausted them. She could have created a ship of this size with little trouble if she created it like she did the castle on the North Mountain. But that castle had been designed by pure instinct. Elsa had even almost been killed by it. In her infinite wisdom, she decided to construct a thousand pound chandelier that was supported by a single six inch ice ring. But because she had allowed the magic to flow so naturally, it took her very little effort to create.

The Spirit, however, required intense focus on where every inch of ice was placed, more so that she was working from verbal instructions only. The two or three times she tried to take a shortcut and design from instinct, the results had been much easier to produce, but of such poor quality that Heins made her do those sections again, so she stopped trying. However, despite her exhaustion, she was glowing with pride. The Spirit was the hardest thing she had ever constructed, and the looks on Ciri, Anna, and Kristoff’s faces had been wonderful to behold. She basked in the glow of this feeling as Anna returned with an armful of firewood, and when Heins came to join them. It felt good, sitting on a beach, a soft breeze ruffling her hair, the sunset sending streaks of red and orange across the cloudy sky. She kicked off her shoes and nestled her toes down into the sand, glancing over at Ciri, who was still looking at the Spirit with an expression of reverence. It was almost like none of the past two years had happened. She was just on vacation with her family- but something about that thought didn’t ring true. She looked around, and saw that Kristoff was still standing on his own, some fifty feet down the shore, staring at the sunset with his hands clasped behind his back. 

“Anna?”

“Hmm?”

“Is he okay?”

Anna’s eyes landed on her husband, and a look of concern flashed across her face. “I’ll go check on him.” She stood up, and Elsa watched her approach Kristoff and start speaking, but she was much too far away to make out what she was saying. She returned in short order, Kristoff in tow. She nudged him and gestured to the two remaining chairs, and with a gesture, he pulled them closer together, then they sat down, hand in hand. Kristoff’s expression was stormy, and Elsa exchanged a glance with Anna, but Anna just nodded towards Kristoff, who began to speak.

“I wanted to tell you guys something. Something I should have probably told you a long time ago.”

“Alright,” Elsa said, sitting up straighter in her chair. She could tell from Kristoff’s tone that this would not be easy for him to say, and she would never forgive herself if she nodded off while he was talking.

“It’s about…” he said, but then faltered. Anna put her arm around him and gave him a little shake. Elsa exchanged a worried glance with Heins. “It’s about where I was before all this,” Kristoff continued, his voice a little stronger, gesturing at the group as a whole. He looked at Elsa. “No offense, Your Majesty, but I’m not even technically one of your subjects. Not originally, anyway.”

“Huh?”

“I wasn’t born in Arendelle. I was born far to the north, near wildling country.”

“Really?” Elsa asked, astonished. She could tell from Anna’s lack of reaction that this was not news to her. She felt a tiny, petty stab of anger at being kept in the dark, but she smothered it at once, ashamed she’d felt it at all.

“Really,” Kristoff confirmed. “I had a family, too. Mom, dad, and-”

“Lilly!” Ciri exclaimed, snapping her fingers and sitting up in her chair. “When Anna asked what your sister’s name was!”

“Ciri!” Elsa scolded, smacking her arm lightly with the back of her hand. Only then did Ciri seem to realize the inappropriateness of her outburst. Her pale cheeks flooded with color and she slumped back, staring at the ground, but Kristoff chuckled.

“It’s okay, Elsa,” he said. “Lilly was my sister.” Elsa did not miss the word. _Was_.

“What happened to her?” Elsa asked softly.

And Kristoff told his tale, beginning with their desperate flight from wildlings, his mother’s senseless death, his father’s heroic sacrifice, his first kill, finding Fulbeck, realizing the depths of humanity’s cruelty, Lilly’s last gift to him, and the revenge he took for her. No one else spoke until his story had ended, the only sounds the crackling of the campfire and the soft sniffles of Elsa and Ciri. 

“So that’s what I meant back then, Heins,” Kristoff said. His face was pale, his eyes bloodshot. 

It took Heins a moment to realize what he meant, then, “You blamed yourself for Lilly’s death.”

“Yes. I still do, sometimes. I left her there to die while I escaped,” Kristoff said, his voice dripping with bitterness. Elsa desperately wanted to argue with him, convince him otherwise, but she was still having trouble processing everything. So much about the mountain man her sister had fallen in love with was clicking into place- his ferocity, his antisocial tendencies, his hesitance to open up to people that occasionally rivaled Elsa’s own- everything. 

“I didn’t think I could hate someone I’d never met _so much_ until now,” Ciri said, staring into the fire. She looked up at Kristoff, and Elsa wasn’t sure which flame burned brighter- the campfire, or the fury in her eyes. “How could they do that to children?”

Kristoff shrugged. “I think what happened to us would have happened to whatever strangers happened to pass through next. We were well timed scapegoats, I think. Our age didn’t matter to them. Just so long as she could pin her crime on someone.”

“I’m so sorry, Kristoff,” Heins said, looking dazed. “I never knew.”

“Of course you didn’t. I didn’t tell you. I’m sorry I never did.” He sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he stared into the fire. “I guess I was always afraid of how you guys would view me different if you knew what I was. What I’d done. And the longer I _didn’t_ say anything, the harder it was _to_ say anything.”

“You didn’t have to worry,” Elsa said, breaking her silence. “But I understand why you did. Thank you for telling us, Kristoff.”

“Yes,” Heins agreed. “Thank you.”

Kristoff nodded, Anna’s hand rubbing his back. “I told Anna a little while back, when we got the map to the Earth Temple. I wanted to let you guys know too, but… please don’t tell anyone else about this.”

“Of course not!” Elsa exclaimed, and Heins and Ciri were similarly surprised that he even felt the need to say it.

“I just wanted to make sure. It’s… not something I like talking about, and I’m not ready for everyone to know about it yet.”

“We understand, Kristoff,” Heins said. “Don’t worry.”

Kristoff examined the night sky, the sun having set nearly an hour ago, then met Elsa’s eyes. “Sorry to keep you up, Els.”

Elsa nodded, hoping she didn’t look as tired as she felt. Her eyes burned, and her lids felt like they weighed a thousand pounds. “It’s fine, Kristoff.”

Kristoff stood and stretched. “Liar,” he said with a smirk. “But I wanted to tell you guys while we were just waiting. So thank you.” Elsa smiled at him, which seemed to take more energy than usual, so she stopped. Kristoff laughed. “Alright, bedtime.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tired Elsa is adorable.


	66. Hunting the Spirits: Kristoff - Malaproper Manners

Kristoff slept very well that night. When he woke up, he was laying on his back, with his arm around Anna. She was snuggled up to his side, half laying on top of him with one arm around his chest and her leg draped over his. The rising sun was shining through the side of the tent. He could smell a salty breeze blowing in from the sea. He could hear the rustling of beach grass swaying in the wind. He lay there for a few moments, running his hand over his wife’s soft back, breathing in the scent of her hair, savoring the sense of rightness that had overcome him. He knew that something would go wrong, soon, and the illusion would shatter. It’s what always happened whenever he felt this good. 

He felt lips on his neck, then Anna nuzzled closer to him. “Good morning,” she whispered, smiling.

“Good morning, Anna,” he said, hugging her tighter. He pondered for a moment, then said, “Hey Anna?”

“Hmm?”

“Ever feel so good that you’re sure something will go wrong?”

“Mmhmm. All the time.” She lifted her head, her hair, though shorter than it had been back in the castle, as messy as it had ever been, and rested her chin on his shoulder, looking into his eyes. “Do you feel like that right now?” Kristoff nodded, and Anna sighed. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Kristoff mumbled, craning his neck to give her a kiss.

“I just want all this to be over.”

“Me too. I think once we find the Air Temple, one way or another, it’ll be over soon.”

“One way or another?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow at him. “That’s grim.”

“I prefer the term ‘realistic’.”

“Same damn thing nowadays.” They both chuckled, then, after a bit more snuggling at Anna’s insistence, rose and dressed. Kristoff had just finished strapping his sword to his belt when a cracking sound, as loud as thunder, split the air, along with the sound of Ciri screaming.

“Oh, come ON!” he huffed, bursting out of the tent with Anna right behind him, both drawing their weapons, ready for a fight, and then they froze, staring open mouthed at the sea. 

The Spirit bobbed in the surf, gleaming in the morning sun like a million shining diamonds. The pale blue sails blended with the color of the sky, so that they looked like shimmering ethereal veils in the breeze. Elsa and Ciri stood on the beach a short distance away, their backs to Kristoff, Elsa’s hands falling to her sides. The cracking they had heard was Elsa splitting the drydock apart, and allowing the Spirit to slide down icy runners to the water. Ciri’s scream had been a whoop of delight, not of pain or fear, as she bounced up and down in excitement. In a flash, Kristoff did not see Ciri, he saw Anna, jumping with joy the day she and Kristoff became engaged, and then Ciri was back. She really was like a composite of the sisters- some of Elsa’s elegant grace and poise, some of the boundless energy and optimism of Anna. 

Kristoff felt a slight blow to his pride that Elsa was able to break his drydock so easily, but then he thought of how water would seep into cracks in stone, only to freeze and split the rock apart. And that was _non_ -magical ice. He pushed the feeling aside. He always thought jealousy was an ugly color. Ciri turned to face them, then her mouth fell open in surprise at the sight of their weapons. She muttered something to Elsa, who turned around and waved an apologetic hand. “Sorry!” she called. “I didn’t know it would be that loud!”

“It’s okay,” Anna called back, finally snapping out of the trance the sight of the ship had cast upon her and stowing her weapon. “It’s even more beautiful in the sun!” she continued, as she and Kristoff made their way down the beach towards them.

“Thank you,” Elsa said modestly, looking down at the ground and brushing her hair back over her ear as Ciri stared at her in admiration. “I’m honestly just glad it floats.”

“What do you think, guys?” came a voice from the Spirit. Kristoff peered at the ship to see Heins waving at him from the deck. He must have ridden it down into the water, and Kristoff wasn’t sure if that was bravery or stupidity. “Get a move on, we’re setting sail in less than an hour!”

Forty five minutes and one icy canoe ride later, the five of them were on the gleaming deck of the Spirit, and four of them were shivering. “I can’t do anything about the temperature,” Elsa muttered, looking miserable. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Anna said , rubbing her goosebump covered arms furiously. 

“Anna might be able to help!” Ciri suggested, her teeth chattering as a particularly violent shiver wracked her body. “Can you make some brassieres, Elsa?” 

“Some- wait, what?” Elsa said, blinking several times, trying to process what Ciri had said. Kristoff, Heins, and Anna were looking at Ciri as well, nonplussed and uncomfortable as they tried to work out what she could mean. Kristoff was at a complete loss as to how that particular item of clothing would help, much less made of ice.

“You know, brassieres?” Ciri said, looking around at them all as though they were the crazy ones. “Brassieres!” she cried, waving her arms about. “The things you put fire in!”

There was silence for another few seconds, and then Anna said, “Do you mean braziers?”

Ciri froze. “Yes,” she muttered, covering her face with her hands as the rest of the group burst into laughter. 

“I was really trying to figure out how that would have helped!” Kristoff laughed. 

“Shut up,” Ciri whined, the small visible patches of skin a bright red. “I meant brazier, I did!”

“Oh, it’s okay, Ciri,” Anna giggled, putting an arm around Ciri, then she winked at Elsa. “You see, a brassiere is something women with boobs need, and you-”

“Hey!” Ciri exclaimed, throwing Anna’s arm off her as the group collapsed into laughter again. “That’s mean!” She was trying to look indignant, but Kristoff could see her suppressing a smile. He always admired people who could laugh at themselves, so he decided to help her out.

“How would you know, Anna?” he asked. 

“HEY!” she cried, swatting Kristoff’s arm, and this time, Ciri joined in the laughter with gusto.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is literally to set up a pun that ONLY I will find funny. I do not apologize.
> 
> For anyone who may not know, brazier and brassiere are pronounced differently. Brassiere is pronounced BRUH-zeer, while brazier is pronounced bray-zher. 
> 
> There is one more chapter to Hunting the Spirits, and then we get into Crimes of the Empire. I initially planned on posting the last chapter of Hunting the Spirits today, but it's a bit of a cliffhanger and I didn't want to leave on that. See you Saturday.


	67. Hunting the Spirits: Heins - The Spirit

Once Elsa had added some braziers to the Spirit, and after a quick trip back to shore for wood, Anna was able to keep them all much warmer, using her magic as she had done in the cave, only maintaining the flame so she did not get too exhausted. Elsa’s ice held up just fine as well. She had constructed the ship using the most powerful magic she was capable of, and as such, it was not going to melt in a hurry. 

As far as ships went, Heins had never sailed one quite like the Spirit, in more than one way. First, and most obviously, it was ice. That part was no surprise. What had been a little surprising, if for no other reason than he hadn’t yet thought of it, it was translucent. The ice’s thickness and complicated shapes meant that it was a far cry from a pane of glass, but still, the fact that he could see where the waterline was at all times gave him a better read of the sea than he had ever had before- which was a very good thing, because the smooth ice cut through the waves better than a wooden ship could ever dream of.

Not only that, the almost nonexistent friction between the icy lines and pulleys meant that the ship seemed to obey his every thought. Adjustments that used to leave him panting and red faced were now made with as little effort as lacing his boots- and that was if he needed to make them at all. Because Elsa could not only conjure ice, she could control what she had already made, she was able to act as many deckhands at once without tiring. Add that to Anna, Kristoff, and Ciri’s enthusiasm and willingness to learn and help, it was the best crew Heins had ever had, despite their inexperience. They made great time as they sailed for the Faroe Islands, cutting what was normally a day’s journey down to only a handful of hours.

“Ahoy, Cap’n!” Anna called down from the crow’s nest, where she had been for the last twenty minutes. Ciri and Elsa were on the main deck, adjusting lines at Heins’s command, and Kristoff was behind him, with everyone’s weapons strewn about him, giving them some long-overdue maintenance. “Yarr, there be land ahead!” 

“It’s ‘land, ho!’, Anna,” Heins answered wearily, spinning the wheel to take advantage of a shifting crosswind. “And you don’t even have a spyglass.”

“Arr, she does in her heart,” Ciri growled, in her best pirate voice. She looked up at Heins from the main deck and stuck her tongue out at him, as Anna held the imaginary spyglass up to her eye once more, this time, looking down at Heins.

“Oy Cap’n!” she cried. “There be a spoilsport in our midst, arr!” 

“Ahoy, matey, we’ll make ‘em walk the plank!” Elsa called back from next to Ciri, joining in. Heins rolled his eyes.

“You too, huh?”

“Arr, if ya can’t beat ‘em, join em, Cap’n!” 

“Kristoff, help me out,” Heins asked.

“No can do, matey,” he said, holding Anna’s blade close to his face to inspect it. “This here be a mutiny!” Anna, Ciri, and Elsa all cheered, but Heins did not laugh.

“Shut up,” he ordered.

“Heins-!” Elsa protested, looking shocked and angry, but Heins cut her off.

“Quiet!” She quieted. Heins closed his eyes, straining his ears. He had heard something, he was sure of it. He cleared his mind, filtering out the sound of the waves, the spray of the water spattering across the deck, the flap of the sails in the wind, the sound of the air rushing through the rigging… and he heard it again. A horn blasting once… twice… three times.  _ Shit _ . He opened his eyes. Why hadn’t he thought of this? Of course a ship like this would be visible from so much further away than normal- the damn thing shone like a diamond in the sun. He scanned the horizon, searching for the tiny, telltale variations between sea and sky. There, to the east, coming up to the aft of the Spirit, he saw what he was looking for.

“Elsa, can you make a spyglass?” he asked quickly. She nodded, concentrated, and in a flurry of snowflakes, she held a crystal spyglass. She tossed it to him, and he pressed it to his eye. It was imperfect, blurry around the edges, having been made by feel rather than the precise creation of a real spyglass, but it did the trick. Four ships, bearing the Empire flag, heading their way. The closest island was five miles away, they were much closer than that. But Heins knew these ships. They were small, fast, and heavily armed, but the Spirit was faster. “Anna, look over there and keep an eye on them!” He threw the spyglass up to her, where she snatched it, then swept her gaze over the horizon where Heins had indicated. He heard her gasp, which surely meant she had seen them.

He turned his attention back to the others. “We’ve got company. Four ships. They’re fast, but we’re faster. We can outrun them.”

“What do you need from us?” Elsa asked, all pirate talk forgotten.

“Keep doing what you’re doing. You too, Ciri. Kristoff, get those weapons done and back to their owners. Give Ciri Anna’s knife.” Ciri stared up at him, her face colorless and afraid. Heins smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry, Ciri. We’re much faster than them. It’s just in case, alright?”

“Okay,” she said, looking ill. Elsa put a bracing hand on her shoulder, and then Anna called down from the crow’s nest.

“Heins?! We’re NOT faster! Look!”

Heins whipped his head around, following Anna’s frantic point. “What?” he gasped. In the minute or so since he had first spotted them, he could now see them clearly with the naked eye. They had closed the gap between them by a mile or more. “That’s not possible,” Heins muttered.

“How are they catching up so quickly?” Elsa demanded. Heins had no answer.

“Heins! They’re getting closer!” Anna was starting to sound panicked now, and that spurred Heins into action.

“Ciri, you stay there- you’re in charge of the rigging.” Ciri gulped, but nodded, her face pale, but set and determined. “Don’t worry, I’ll tell you what to do. Elsa, go join Anna in the crow’s nest. You two are the only weapons we’ve got.” Elsa nodded, grasped a line near her, then pulled herself up it, hand over hand. Heins turned around. “Kristoff, can you-”

“No,” Kristoff cut across. “I’ve tried, sea floor’s too far down, I can’t feel it.”

“Alright. Keep trying. We’re going to be coming up on shore quick. You might be able to soon.” Kristoff nodded and leapt to his feet, gathering up the weapons and beginning to distribute them, as Heins barked orders to Ciri.

The Spirit was fast.  _ Damn _ fast. Heins didn’t know how, but these ships were faster. The four were on them in minutes, despite Heins’s skill. The wind was just not cooperating with him. It was changing directions and intensity constantly, and Ciri and Kristoff’s nonexistent sailing experience meant that they were slow to adjust.

“Light their sails already, Anna!” Heins shouted, when their pursuers had closed to only a quarter mile. The island was still a half mile away. 

“I’m trying!” she wailed, her hair plastered to her forehead. “I think there’s a magician with them, they’re not letting me! It keeps getting put out!”

“ _ Fuck, _ ” Heins swore under his breath. “Elsa! How strong is this ship?!”

“Strong!” Elsa called back, her face shining with sweat. She had been trying to get the ships to crash into sharp chunks of ice, but every time she tried, the icebergs had been blown aside by the wind, and at this distance, Elsa couldn’t overpower it to keep them in position. She leaned on the edge of the crow’s nest, gasping for breath. 

“Stronger than wood?”

“I think so, yeah! Wait, why?!” Heins ignored her. He had to act quickly.

“Ciri, when I say, cut that line right there, then pull that,  _ hard _ . Okay?” She nodded, her breath coming in small, fearful gasps, but she took position where Heins had indicated, her knife poised to cut through the line. “Elsa!”

“What are you doing, Heins!?” she shouted.

“You said we’re stronger! Get ready! I need you to help turn us!”

Elsa swore loudly, then said, “Fine. Starboard?” Heins nodded, then addressed everyone.

“Here’s the plan! We cut hard to starboard and go back towards them! We go right between them, they can’t fire if we’re in the middle, they’ll hit each other! We’re sinking those ships, all four, right now! Kristoff, can you-”

“Hang on.” He closed his eyes for a moment, then his face lit up. “I can! I can feel the earth!”

“Good. Start bringing up as much as you can.” Kristoff nodded and knelt down, his brow furrowed in concentration, his hands flat on the deck. “Everyone ready!”

“Ready!” Ciri called, as did Elsa and Anna. “Okay… Now!” Heins spun the wheel to the right as fast as he could. At the same time, Ciri cut the line holding the sail straight, allowing it to pivot back the other way, adding the wind’s force to their turn, then struggled to pull another of the sails in line. Meanwhile, Elsa poured her magic into the turn, willing the ice to move. In seconds, the Spirit was heading full speed towards her pursuers, the wind now working for them instead of opposing, but then it shifted again, flipping its direction, and Heins, having cut one of the main lines, couldn’t adjust. But he had a plan. “Elsa! Melt the sails, NOW! Then keep us moving!” The sails collapsed into puddles at once, but the ship, rather than lose speed, sped up. Elsa screamed with the effort as the ship moved faster and faster. Heins spun the wheel back and forth, keeping them aimed directly between the two ships in the middle.

The Spirit was strong. Much stronger than the feeble wood that made up their pursuer’s vessels. The Spirit hit both at the same time, forcing its way into and through the too-small gap between the ships. Heins could see men scrambling on the decks, trying to dodge the lethal debris as the hulls crumpled inward, the sheer velocity of the collision rending the ships to pieces. By the time the Spirit made it all the way through, what remained of both ships were listing dangerously. Only corpses manned the sails, and Heins could see both ships were as good as sunk, even before Anna set them both aflame.

“Kristoff!” Heins shouted, over the roaring noise of the rising flames and the screams of dying men. “Do you have anything?”

As though it was an answer, the sea on both sides of the Spirit started to roll and churn, swelling and surging as something massive rose from the depths, and then two chunks of seafloor, dozens of feet across, breached the water, sending salty spray and mist exploding out in all directions. They hung suspended in midair for a moment, and the Spirit rolled nauseatingly to the side. Heins heard his wife scream once more with the effort of keeping the ship upright. The chunks floated above the remaining two ships, dwarfing them with their size. Heins saw terrified upturned faces, and then Kristoff let them drop. The cracking of the ships split the air like a thunderclap, and then, almost at once, the ships sank into the depths and vanished from view, dragged beneath the waves by the earth. The waves crashed into the other two ships, destroying what remained, so that only bodies and pieces of wood bobbed on the ocean’s surface. And then all was silent.

“Is everyone okay?!” Heins shouted.

“I-I’m okay!” came Ciri’s shaky reply, her head popping up from behind a small pile of supplies she had been cowering behind.

“Elsa? Anna?”

Anna’s head came into view, looking both elated and concerned. “We’re okay! Elsa’s passed out though. Too much magic.” She knelt back down, disappearing from view.

“Kristoff?”

“I’m… okay....” Kristoff mumbled from the deck. He lay spread eagled on his back, breathing hard, his face red and dripping with sweat, despite the icy floor he lay on. Heins stepped over him, looking down and grinning.

“Well done, Kristoff. I wasn’t sure you had that in you.”

“Me… either…” Kristoff gasped.

“You too, Ciri,” Heins said, smiling at her, and she beamed back, looking proud.

“What is that?” Heins looked down at Kristoff to see him pointing into the air above them, frowning. Heins followed his gaze, just in time to see something smash into the crow’s nest with tremendous force. For one, horrifying moment, he saw the forms of Anna and Elsa, silhouetted against the clear blue sky, tumbling through the air like dolls, limp and lifeless, before something else struck the ship, near where Ciri was standing, her eyes wide with terror. She vanished behind a burst of icy debris, then a third something hit near Heins. A wave of force crashed over him as he was lifted off his feet, the icy dock of the Spirit splitting with an ear shattering crack. He felt himself hit water, and then everything was dark and cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That marks the end of _Hunting the Spirits_. Next, _The Crimes of the Empire_.


	68. Crimes of the Empire: Elsa - Loss

The last thing Elsa remembered was using her magic to propel the Spirit through the Empire ships. From there, she was only aware of waking up in the pitch black, her head spinning, floating in the darkness. She started to panic, and then felt hands grab her wrists, and she yelped in fear.

“Elsa, Elsa, it’s me, it’s okay, stop moving!” 

“Heins?” Elsa asked, her voice coming out even weaker than she thought it might. “What’s going on?” 

“We’re underwater, in a piece of the Spirit embedded in the seafloor. Air pocket. Stay calm, okay? I’ve got Anna and Kristoff too, I’m trying to keep you all floating, and the less you move, the easier it is, okay?” Elsa could now hear the strain in Heins’s voice.

“Where’s Ciri?” Elsa demanded.

Heins hesitated, and Elsa’s heart stopped in that pause. “I don’t know. Stop moving!” he ordered again, as Elsa began to panic, thrashing around, searching for Ciri, she must be close, if only Elsa could reach her-

“We have to find her!” she cried.

“Elsa, stop! You’re pushing Anna under! Stay still!”

“But Ciri-”

“Elsa, Ciri’s either dead or not, and killing yourself or Anna or Kristoff is not going to help!”

With monumental effort, Elsa forced herself to stay still, and she heard Heins’s kicking slow down, and his breath regulate. “Thank you,” he gasped. “Now, do you think you can make something for us to float on up on the surface?” 

Elsa reached for the magic, and though it took much more effort than usual, she could still feel it. “Yes, I think so.”

“Okay, we’re about twenty feet down. Do you think you can get Anna to the surface?”

“Now?” Elsa said, alarmed. Her entire body was stiff and painful.

“We don’t have that much air left,” Heins said, his voice low and grim. “We’ve been down here a while, and this pocket isn’t very big.”

Elsa tested her limbs. It would be painful, but she thought she could do it. “I think so,” she said again.

“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to let you and Anna go. Tread water and keep her face above the surface, okay? Tell me if you can’t do it.”

“I’m ready,” Elsa said, finding Anna’s back. Heins kicked away, and Elsa straightened up in the water, holding up Anna with one arm while treading water with the other arm and her legs. “It’s- hard-” she gasped.

“Okay, then we’ll be quick. We’ll give them air, then seal their mouth and nose with your magic and go  _ that way _ -” she felt Heins push her gently to the left- “then up. When you get to the surface, make a raft. I’ll be right behind you. Don’t forget to melt the ice on Anna and Kristoff,” he added quickly. 

“Give- Anna- air?”

“Mouth to mouth. Pinch her nose, blow into her mouth, it’ll give her enough air to get to the surface.”

“Okay- you- first- so- I- can-”

“Yeah, got it.” She heard Heins take a deep breath and exhale, then her other hand was grabbed and placed on Kristoff’s face. Without being able to see, she knew this was a risk, but they had no choice. She created a mask as best she could, praying it was enough to keep the water out, and then Heins was gone.

_ Okay Anna, here we go. _ Elsa pinched Anna’s nose shut and pressed her lips to Anna’s, exhaling as much air as she could, then sealed Anna’s airways the same way as Kristoff. She seized her arm and pulled Anna underwater, feeling out the edge of the Spirit as she did. When she glimpsed light up above, she kicked off the debris and dragged Anna upwards. Her ears started to pop, sending spikes of pain through her head, but she kept kicking. She broke the surface with a gasp, then hauled Anna above the water. With a quick swipe of her hand, she melted the ice on both Anna and Kristoff, gasping in relief when they began to breathe on their own again. 

“Well done,” Heins gasped. Elsa squinted around, her eyes overwhelmed by the sudden shift from dark to light. When she saw him, she created an ice flue underneath them all, and they bobbed to the surface. As soon as they were above the water, Elsa collapsed, breathing hard. That had taken everything out of her, and her head was now pounding as well as spinning. Her arms and legs felt like they had been trampled by a thousand horses, her chest was tight and it was painful to breathe, and now, out of the water, she could tell that her left knee was completely locked stiff.

“Elsa?” Heins said in alarm, scrambling over to her.

“‘m fine,” she mumbled. “Where’s Ciri?”

“I don’t see her,” Heins said, sounding distressed. “Stay here.” Heins dove smoothly back into the water, and Elsa’s strength failed her, and she lay her head down on the icy surface of the raft, her vision going in and out of focus as the whole world seemed to spin around her.

* * *

Elsa had just begun to regain her strength when Anna began to stir. Elsa, unable to stand or even crawl, instead dragged herself over to her sister as Anna’s entire body trembled. Her lips were blue.

“Anna!” Elsa cried, alarmed. Was she having a seizure? 

“C-c-cold…” Anna muttered, her face twisted in pain.

“Oh shit,” Elsa gasped. She hadn’t even had the wherewithal to consider that she was the only one who wouldn’t be bothered by the temperature of their raft. “Can you make any fire?”

Anna frowned, her eyes still closed, and then shook her head. Another shiver wracked her body as Heins burst from the water, holding on to the edge of the raft and looking distraught. “I can’t find her!”

“C-c-can’t- f-f-find who?”

“Ciri.”

“W-what?” Anna’s eyes opened and she struggled to sit up, but fell back down, holding her side and moaning in pain.

“Anna, don’t move,” Elsa said. “You’re hurt.”

“So are you, Elsa,” Heins said, looking closer at her. “We need to get to land.”

“But what about Ciri-”

“Elsa, look at me.” She did, and his face was deadly serious. “If Ciri is still out here, if she didn’t make it to land, she’s already dead. Anna will be soon if we don’t get her warmed up. We have to get Anna and Kristoff to land, or they will die.” Elsa’s head and heart had a violent fight. Every part of her soul screamed in illogical protest at the thought of leaving before finding Ciri, but the colder, more rational part of her insisted Heins was right. Night was falling fast. Their only hope of finding Ciri was to get to land and pray that she was already there.

“Okay,” she relented, once the battle had ceased. “How?”

“I can get you guys there. You rest.” With that, Heins started kicking, his hands on the raft, pushing it through the water. Elsa knew he would protest if he knew what she was doing, but she used every bit of her remaining strength to help propel the ice through the water. She knew he was still doing the bulk of the work, but she was so panicked at the thought of Ciri that she had to distract herself  _ somehow _ . 

As they made their slow progress towards the shore, Anna stopped shivering. At first, Elsa took this for a good sign, and mentioned it to Heins. “That’s- a-  _ bad- _ sign-, Elsa,” he gasped back, his breathing labored with the effort of pushing the raft. “Her- body- is- shutting- down.”

“What?” Heins didn’t answer, just shook his head, gasping for air. “Can we get her in the water? Will that help?” Heins shook his head again.

“Too- cold. Need- to- get- to- shore-” The raft surged forward as Heins redoubled his speed, his face contorted with the effort. Elsa shook Anna, but she did not respond, and Elsa feared the worst. She pressed two fingers to Anna’s neck, and felt for a pulse, gasping in relief when she found it. It was slow and a little irregular, but present. 

Kristoff was doing a little better, likely due to his experience with the ice harvesters, but his lips had turned blue. Elsa sat up, causing a great deal of pain to shoot through her side, but she ignored it and pulled Anna halfway onto her lap, to get her upper body off the ice. It probably didn’t do as much as Elsa wanted, because try as she might, she couldn’t seem to get her own skin to warm up, but it  _ had _ to be better than laying directly on ice. She started rubbing Anna’s arms, shocked at how cold she was. After another minute or so, Elsa realized that she couldn’t hear Heins kicking anymore, and looked over. Heins was now pushing the raft upright, his shoulders just above the waterline as he took careful steps along the seabed. When the water reached only up to his waist, he moved around the raft, close to where Elsa held Anna.

“Give her to me,” he said, slurring his words. His eyes were half-closed with exhaustion. “I’ll get her on the beach, it’ll be warmer.” With difficulty, Elsa managed to help slide Anna into Heins’s arms, and he trudged off, his movements sluggish and graceless. Elsa tried to stand, but her leg was refusing to bend. Instead, she slid off the raft into the water, using her left leg to support her, and did her best to pull the raft a little closer to shore. It was slow and painful work, but she had to try to help. 

Heins lay Anna down in the sand, then returned for Kristoff. Kristoff was not in as much danger of hypothermia as Anna, so rather than try to pick him up, Heins just pulled him into the water and let him float, only keeping his face above the surface as he pulled Kristoff towards the shore, Elsa limping along behind them. Every shallow breath sent jolts of pain through her chest, and she knew that at least a few ribs were broken. She staggered onto the shore, gritting her teeth as her left leg had to bear more and more of her weight with every step out of the water. By the time she fully left the sea, she was reduced to dragging herself along with her arms and left leg, her left stretched uselessly behind her. Her face was screwed up in agony, and tears stung her eyes as gasps of pain escaped her lips. 

Heins pulled Kristoff under the arms alongside Anna, then Elsa collapsed onto the beach next to her sister, more exhausted, sore, and dizzy than she had ever been in her life. 

“Elsa, get up,” Heins said.

“Huh?” Elsa mumbled, trying to lift her head. It felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.

“Look,” Heins said, pointing back towards the sea. Elsa followed his gaze to see dark stormclouds rolling in. “We have to get under cover, or they  _ will _ die.”

“It hurts…” Elsa moaned. Heins knelt down next to her.

“I know, honey,” Heins said, his voice trembling. Whether it was from exhaustion or empathy for Elsa, she didn’t know. “I know. But we’re almost done, and then you can rest, okay?”

“Where’s Ciri?” Elsa’s words were slurred. She couldn’t focus.

“I don’t see her. The sooner you get up and get under cover, the sooner I can go look for her, okay?”

This managed to pierce the fog in Elsa’s mind, at least for a moment. She struggled to sit up. “Where?” she croaked. 

Heins pointed inland. “I see a cove there. It’ll have to do. Get there. I’ll worry about Anna and Kristoff.”

Lacking any strength or fortitude to argue, Elsa set off towards the spot Heins had indicated. Rain pattered onto her back when she was only halfway there, and Heins, carrying Anna, passed her moments after. He set her down and returned for Kristoff. Elsa had just crawled inside the cove, little more than a collection of rocks with a small overhang, when Heins returned with Kristoff, who was actually up and moving, though leaning heavily on Heins. His eyes were glazed and unfocused, and he closed them again at once when Heins got him laid down next to Anna. The next moment, Heins collapsed to all fours, his head hanging, his breathing labored and slow.

“Heins?” Elsa said, concerned. 

“I’m fine.” Heins muttered. “Just… tired.” He heaved himself to his feet, then he stood, swaying slightly, as he looked around at Elsa. “Stay here. Get rest. I’m going to look for Ciri.” With that, he left, and the last remnants of Elsa’s strength flagged, and she fell into darkness.

* * *

When Elsa woke, her head was splitting, and her body was aflame with agony. Everything hurt- her head, her chest, her stomach, her neck, her back, every joint in her body.  _ Why the hell didn’t we bring Elsie? _

She forced her eyes open, wincing as the bright light sent a spike of pain through her temple. Heins was missing, but Anna and Kristoff were there. Kristoff was awake, sitting up against a rock next to Anna, and he met Elsa’s eyes, looking very haggard. 

“I thought you were dead,” Kristoff said, his voice very hoarse. “Anna too.”

“Not yet.” 

“How are you feeling, Els?” he asked in a low voice.

“Like I got trampled by a wild horse,” Elsa groaned, wrenching herself halfway upright, then falling back against a rock so that she was sitting up, facing Kristoff. “Is Anna…?” She couldn’t finish the sentence.

“She’s hanging in there.”

Elsa let out a relieved sigh. “Thank god. What about you? Are you okay?”

“Been better.”

“What even happened, Kristoff? Do you know?”

His brow furrowed as he thought. “I remember… seeing something in the sky. I couldn’t tell, but… I think it was a man.”

“Flying?” Elsa asked. Kristoff nodded. “That’s new.”

“It may be a big problem, too.”

“What do you mean?”

“What if we’re too late? We know the Empire was after Titan, we got lucky and beat them there. What if this time we didn’t?”

“You think this magician has Valefor?”

“I think it’s possible. It would make sense if the Air Spirit would be able to fly through the air, wouldn’t it?”

“I suppose,” Elsa admitted, rubbing her temples. Her head was splitting. “What happened next?”

“Well… something hit the Spirit, right on you and Anna, up in the crow’s nest. I thought it killed you both... I don’t remember anything after that.” He rubbed his face. “How the hell did we survive?”

“Heins,” Elsa sighed. “And basically only Heins,” she added, an edge of bitterness creeping into her voice- not at Heins, but at herself.

“What do you mean?”

“I was conscious too, but he had to do almost everything. He got the three of us into an air pocket in the Spirit. He was the one who knew how to get you and Anna to the surface without drowning. He pushed all of us all the way here on a raft. He carried you and Anna onto the shore, then into this cove.”

“Wait, back up. What do you mean ‘the three of us’?” 

“Ciri… she’s-” Elsa’s throat closed up, choking off the words. Her heart split at the thought of Ciri, somewhere in the depths of the ocean, never to be found. “She’s missing,” she forced out. 

“Oh.” Kristoff’s face fell, but then he looked up at Elsa, an odd gleam to his eye. “She’ll be okay, Els. We’ll find her.”

“How do you even know she survived?” Elsa asked. 

“Because I saw her get thrown off the boat on one of the first hits.”

“What?” Elsa gasped. “Are you sure? Why didn’t you say so?”

“Because I didn’t think of Ciri until now,” Kristoff admitted. “Sorry… I only woke up a little bit ago. It’s still all a blur. My head… it’s foggy. I can’t think…” He shook his head, frustrated. “I can’t remember!” he huffed.

“It’s okay, Kristoff,” Elsa sighed, trying to slow down her breathing. Hearing Ciri might be alive was like a jolt of electricity running through the pieces of her heart. “I’m out of it too.”

“But I remember- or I think I remember- her going overboard on the first hit- no, second, I think, first was you two. I think. It’s… I can’t sort it out. But if that’s the case, she probably survived. That girl’s a fighter. She’s not one to lay down and give up, you know that.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“I am,” Kristoff replied, and the confidence in his voice made Elsa almost believe him. But she couldn’t quite shake the dread, the horrible weight in her stomach, the guilt, the sorrow, the grief. Ciri had been on her own long enough to be independent in her decisions, and Elsa was not technically her guardian- but that’s not the way it felt. It felt like she had led Ciri to her death, betraying the girl’s faith in her, her belief that Elsa would keep her safe. 

A groaning sound cut through the air, and both Elsa and Kristoff looked at each other, concerned, before both realized Anna had made the sound. She stirred feebly, and her eyes crept open. “Anna?” Kristoff asked.

“Owwwww….” Anna moaned. She glanced around, and as her eyes moved between the pair of them, Elsa could see that they were unfocused and dazed. “No Ciri?”

“No.”

“Still no, I’m afraid.” Heins came into view, stepping into the cove, looking more haggard than ever, still soaking wet despite the rain having let up a while ago. He had not slept or rested since leaving the mainland the morning prior, and he looked near the end of his tether. “I looked everywhere. I couldn’t find her.”

“She’ll turn up,” Anna said, trying to sound optimistic, but her slurred speech and confused demeanor lessened the effect. 

“You okay, Anna?” Heins asked, frowning at her in alarm of her condition.

“Hurts… feel… drunk. Dizzy…” Anna grumbled, putting her hands over her face. 

Heins knelt down and leaned over Anna. “Anna, move your hands. Look at me.” She did. Heins peered into both eyes, then held up a finger. “Don’t move your head. Watch my finger.” He moved it back and forth, and though Elsa couldn’t see where Anna was looking from where she was, Heins did not look pleased with the result. He sighed. “I’m no Elsie, but she taught me a few things in the past few years. You’ve got a concussion, Anna. Let me check the rest of you. I should have right away, but…”

“You were looking for Ciri,” Anna mumbled, as Heins gently moved her limbs around, testing for injuries. “It’s okay.”

Over the next half hour, Heins discovered that Anna had broken ribs, a broken right collarbone, arm, and ankle (for that was the side of the impact), bruising all over her body, and a concussion. Elsa was a little better off, with broken ribs, a sprained left knee, bruising, and a concussion to match Anna’s. Kristoff got off lucky, with only severe bruising covering the right side of his entire body, though it still made him intensely sore, and it was painful to move. Heins was in remarkably good shape, having only some soreness from the first impact, which made Elsa more hopeful that Ciri could have survived if she experienced the same as Heins.

Once all their injuries had been diagnosed by Heins (with reasonable certainty, he said), they began patching themselves up. The ribs would heal on their own over time, and the concussions would fade similarly. Anna’s broken bones were the biggest problem. She had taken the full force of the impact, the first strike having been a few inches from her. It was a miracle she was still alive, much less with only a few broken bones to show for it. Kristoff and Heins, being the only two that could walk without too much trouble, scavenged the surrounding woods for supplies, as all of theirs had gone down with the Spirit. Over the next few minutes, Elsa and Anna waited anxiously, trying not to think about how scared they were about Ciri or how much pain they were in.

Kristoff and Heins returned with their arms full of sticks, leaves, and grass. Anna was in worse condition, so they focused on her first. They splinted her arm and ankle, then fashioned a sling for her collarbone to heal. Kristoff managed to create a lightweight sandstone crutch for her to use, so that she could move around somewhat independently, if a little slowly. The ribs and concussion would have to heal over time, same for Elsa. Heins didn’t know a way to speed up either of those recoveries. For Elsa, all they could do was bind her knee tightly to keep it from hurting too much as she limped around. It did seem to hold her weight okay, so they knew it wasn’t broken, and figured the best thing to do was to keep it from locking up. Elsie may have been able to do more, but no one knew how to treat an injury like that. By the time they were fit to move (for the most part, anyway), it was already past noon, and Elsa’s anxiety had been growing in her heart like a weed. Even if Ciri survived the initial attack, the longer it took to find her, the more likely it would be that she would die anyway.

“Heins, you’re sure there’s no town or anything on this island?”

“As far as I know, no,” Heins said, sounding a little irritated by now. Sweat dripped from his brow as he tightened Anna’s arm splint, with nothing but occasional, sharp intakes of breath to show how much pain Anna was surely in. “There’s a lot of islands here, Elsa, not all of them have people.”

“We’ll find her, Els,” Kristoff said, putting an encouraging hand on her shoulder. “She can’t have gone too far. She has to be on this island somewhere.”

“Alright, Anna, how does that feel?” Heins asked, sitting back on his heels and wiping sweat off his face, looking half-dead on his feet. She moved her shoulder, very slightly, and though she winced in pain, it did not seem too serious.

“I think that’s good. I don’t think it’s moving around much anymore.”

“So can we go?” asked Elsa.

“I think so,” Heins said, looking around. “Just- take it easy, both of you. I’m not Elsie, this stuff isn’t going to hold as well as hers would. Your balance isn’t going to be very good either, yours especially Anna, so be careful.”

“Okay, fine, help me stand up already,” Elsa said. Heins pulled Elsa to her feet, while Kristoff did the same for Anna, but as she stood, the rush of blood to her leg made it pound with renewed agony, and her head spun. She almost fell, but caught herself just in time. She grit her teeth and tried not to let her pain show. “Let’s go,” Elsa said, her voice trembling the smallest amount.

They searched for hours, and Elsa, urged on by reckless anxiety, sent up great flurries to try to get Ciri’s attention, but as the day stretched on, the afternoon moving towards evening, they could not find her.

* * *

“Elsa, come here,” Anna said, as the sun crept ever lower on the horizon. Elsa limped over.

“What is it?”

Anna pointed, balancing carefully on one leg as she relinquished her grip on the crutch. “Is that smoke?”

Elsa squinted in the direction Anna indicated. Sure enough, there, barely visible through a thick canopy, was the unmistakable sight of rising smoke. “It is!” Elsa cried. “Good eye, Anna! That must be Ciri!”

“Kristoff! Heins!” Anna called, and within a few moments, they heard them crashing through the underbrush.

Heins got there first. “What is it? Are you okay?” he asked quickly, his weary eyes darting around, his hand on his sword.

“We’re fine,” Elsa said. “More than fine! We think we know where Ciri is!”

Before Heins could do anything more than look stunned, Kristoff lumbered into view, moving a little slower and stiffer than Heins, but as alert for danger.

“What-”

“We’re fine, Kristoff,” Anna interrupted, and Kristoff relaxed, slumping against a tree. “We see smoke. We think it’s Ciri!”

“It’s that way,” Elsa indicated. “Can you go first, you’re faster than us.”

“I’ll go,” Heins said at once. “Kristoff, stay here and help them along.” Without another word, Heins bounded off in the direction Elsa had pointed, the possibility of finding Ciri giving him a second (or third, or fourth) wind. Kristoff took turns helping either Anna or Elsa, while both sisters insisted he help the other one more, which he ignored completely. 

As they made their way through the rapidly darkening forest, Elsa’s heart felt like it was beating out of her chest. She was elated at the prospect of being reunited with Ciri, safe and sound, and she couldn’t think of any other reason there would be smoke on this island, since there was no town. But then, doubt crept into her mind. It had been years since Heins had been home. What if he was wrong? What if there really was a village here? What if that was the smoke Anna had spotted?

No sooner had Elsa reached this conclusion than Heins returned, looking crestfallen and more exhausted than ever. “So… I was wrong,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck, and not meeting anyone’s gaze. “There is a village here. It was chimney smoke. But,” he continued, looking like he was trying to soften the blow. “There’s a chance Ciri saw it too, and made her way there. I think it’s pretty likely, actually.”

Elsa couldn’t bring herself to actually agree with Heins, but nodded anyway, forcing a smile. It was clear just by his expression that he felt tremendous guilt for not finding Ciri the night before, as well as not knowing there was a village here, even though neither were really his fault. The four of them set off again, heading for the village, reaching the small fishing hamlet just before the sun had set. Before entering the town, they took a short break to discuss options, Elsa and Anna both letting out moans of relief as they finally took the weight off their injured legs. 

“Oh my god, that feels better,” Anna sighed, leaning up against a tree trunk.

“No kidding,” Elsa agreed. “Now, what next?”

“Well, I’m not sure,” Heins mumbled, sitting down heavily next to Elsa. He started to nod off at once, and Elsa slipped her hand into his, squeezing it and shaking it a bit to keep him awake a little while longer. Opposite them, Kristoff put his arm carefully around Anna. “There’s not much Empire down there, but I did see a few guards, and in your shape… well, I don’t like our odds.”

“What about Ciri, though?” Anna asked. “If she’s in there, we need to find her.”

“I agree, Anna, but…” Heins trailed off, looking around at them all with bloodshot eyes. “Look. I want to find her as much as any of you. But getting ourselves killed does no one any good. You’ve all been around Ciri- what’s the first thing she would have done?”

“Lay of the land,” Elsa said at once. “If she wound up anywhere on this side of the island, she would have seen the village!”

“Exactly,” Heins agreed. “Unfortunately, I’m an idiot. I never should have assumed the Southern Isles didn’t change since I left. I should have done the same thing.”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” Kristoff said. “You had your hands full. I don’t know if any of us will ever be able to repay you- we all owe you our lives.” Anna and Elsa nodded earnestly.

“No, you don’t,” Heins sighed. “But I appreciate the sentiment. Anyway, if that’s the case, then Ciri’s probably been here since that first night.”

“What if she left already?” Elsa said, the thought having just popped into her head.

“And go where?” Anna asked, then shrugged without thinking, gasping in pain and cradling her arm. “That was smart,” she chided herself, as Kristoff couldn’t quite help but roll his eyes, then continued, “Anyway, where would she go? She’s smarter than that. She wouldn’t just head off, deeper into Empire territory, on a whim. No, if she was here, she’s still here- I’m almost certain of it.”

“What do we do then?” Elsa asked.

“We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves, and we need to talk to the people to find out if they’ve seen a young girl with ashen hair,” Heins mused, running a hand over his chin. He needed a shave. After a moment of contemplation, Heins shook his head sadly. “I think we need to wait for morning. We can’t exactly go door to door in the middle of the night. Too conspicuous.”

“As much as I hate to say it, I agree,” Anna said, a tinge of regret to her voice. “I don’t  _ want _ to wait, but Heins is right. We’re in no shape to take on Empire.”

“Agreed,” Kristoff said. They all looked expectantly at Elsa.

“Dammit,” Elsa muttered. She knew they were right, but she didn’t want them to be. She wanted to find Ciri. “Fine. But first thing, okay?” There was a chorus of agreement, and then they settled in for a long, uncomfortable night of anxiety and anticipation. They had no tents, so had to make do. Heins fell asleep within seconds of laying down, but it hurt too much for Elsa to join him. With some difficulty, she pulled Heins around so that his head lay on her lap, then held his hand as she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Elsa had a bad dream that night. She woke panicked, calling for Ciri. It took a long time to fall back asleep.

* * *

“So? How do I look?”

“Pretty terrible. But that’s the idea, right?”

“I guess so.”

Elsa pulled at the collar of her shirt. It was much too large for her, itchy and uncomfortable, and the color was a hideous shade of brown that Elsa felt personally offended wearing. Anna, Heins, and Kristoff looked no better, with a mismatched menagerie of fisher’s clothing and wide brimmed hats. Kristoff and Heins had snuck into the village in the very early hours of the morning and stolen the clothing in the hope that it would help them stand out a little less. They had their cloaks, but in a tiny village like this, they would only look more conspicuous if they were hooded, so baggy, uncomfortable clothes and oversized hats it was. Anna and Elsa had both tucked their hair up into the hats to hide the distinctive shades of blonde and red. It was still a risk, as the town was small enough that they would surely be recognized as outsiders, but there wasn’t much they could do about that.

“Everybody ready?” Anna asked, leaning on her crutch with a pained expression. They’d worried that Anna’s injuries would make her stand out too much, but Heins had assured them that injuries in a small fishing town like this were very common. She’d be no more conspicuous than the others, at least.

“I guess,” Kristoff said, rubbing the back of his neck, looking uncomfortable in his too-small shirt and baggy pants. “Is this going to work?” 

“This place seems out of the way enough for no one here to have seen us before,” Heins pointed out. 

Elsa was still eyeing Anna with concern. “You sure you’re up for this, sis?” she asked. “You look terrible.”

“If Ciri’s alive, I’ll be damned if I sit here and don’t help find her.” Elsa gave a half smile at her sister. “Besides, you taken a look at yourself?”

“I’m fine.”

Anna snorted. “And I’m Hans.” 

Elsa winced. “Okay, yes, I’ve been better,” she admitted. “Wanna try and stop me from going?” 

“Not a chance.”

“Here we go then,” Elsa announced, then turned around, meaning to head into the village, but she froze. “No, no, no, no, nononononono,” she moaned. A ship was coming into view from around the island, heading straight for the village’s docks. Cannons lined its sides, and the black flag of the Empire fluttered at its mast. Even from this far away, Elsa could see soldiers packing the decks.

“Son of a bitch… Where did they come from?” groaned Heins.

“Shit,” Anna swore. “What do we do now?” 

“We can’t fight like this,” Kristoff pointed out, sounding despondent. “I don’t think we can do anything but hide and wait.”

“What if Ciri’s down there?” Elsa protested. There was no answer. The others avoided her eyes. “ _ Fuck! _ ” Elsa cried, her frustration and fear boiling over. They were so close, the most likely place Ciri could possibly be was  _ right there _ , they were seconds away from setting out, but now she could only sit and wait, and she couldn’t do anything about it. As much as she cared for Ciri, she knew that if she went into the town now, broadcasting to the Empire that she had survived the sinking of the Spirit, she would succeed only in getting herself and her family killed, and Ciri, if she  _ was _ still alive, would be left all alone. She couldn’t let that happen. So she waited.

* * *

Elsa watched the village the rest of the day. Two dozen men disembarked the Empire ship. She watched as they moved throughout the town, searching house by house. Anyone foolish enough to protest was beaten down in the street. Crying children, pulled away from their parents, wailed in fear as soldiers rifled through their homes. Heins joined her in her silent vigil, his hand in hers, but at Elsa’s insistence, Anna was laid down next to Kristoff, her head in his lap, eyes closed, resting her injuries as best she could. Kristoff’s hand ran through her hair with slow, gentle strokes, and his other hand was entwined in hers. If they were stuck waiting, they might as well not exacerbate Anna’s troubles.

“I almost forgot how much I hated the Empire,” Heins muttered, as a soldier slapped a woman who was trying to get to her child, still inside the house the soldiers were searching. 

“I know. It’s been a while since I saw something like this in person.” She watched as the woman’s husband came to her defense, only to be struck in the stomach with the haft of a spear and shoved to the dirt. “How did it get to this, Heins?”

“I don’t know,” he sighed. “My mother and father would have had soldiers like this exiled at the very least, if they weren’t put to the gallows.”

“Same for mine.” Elsa was silent for a while, then said, “Heins… even if we can defeat Hans… will it even matter?” 

“What do you mean?”

“Look at this…” Down in the village, another door was kicked in, and a screaming young girl, no more than ten, was dragged out by her hair. “Can we really come back from this?” She looked at him. She could feel tears stinging her eyes, but they did not fall. 

“I think so, honey.” He paused. His thumb ran over the back of her hand. “Power corrupts, and corruption spreads. It won’t be easy, but… I think we can restore what was.”

“I-” Elsa’s words died on her lips as another scream pierced the air. It was much like any other, God knew Elsa had been hearing them all day, but this one was different. More anguished. “Did you hear that?” she whispered.

“Hear what?”

“I don’t know. Someone screamed, but it sounded… worse somehow.”

“Hmm.” Heins sat forward, scanning the village. Elsa joined him, her eyes sweeping across the roofs and up the streets, straining to make out as much detail as she could. 

“What’s going on?” Kristoff asked from behind them.

“I don’t- there!” Heins cried suddenly, pointing. “See that?” Elsa followed his point to the westernmost houses, nestled up against the forest. A large group of soldiers were leaving one of the homes, heading back towards the docks, and as Elsa watched, she saw townspeople begin to scatter. Moments later, she could hear shouts and cries of alarm, just a few at first, then more, until it seemed the whole village was in uproar. It wasn’t clear what they were shouting about, but then Elsa caught a glimpse of smoke rising from the house the soldiers had just left.

“Fire!” Elsa cried, lurching to her feet. 

“Huh?” Anna’s bleary voice asked, as Kristoff extricated himself from being her pillow and clambered to his feet. “Whassonfire?”

“We have to help!” Elsa cried. “It’ll burn the whole village down!” 

“The Empire’s leaving… You two stay here,” Heins ordered. Elsa and Anna both protested, but Kristoff interrupted. 

“Els, you’re still injured, and Anna, don’t you dare try to get up right now. We’ll be back.” With that, Heins and Kristoff both sprinted off towards the village. 

“ _ Dammit _ ,” Elsa spat. What had gone so wrong? Had someone tried to fight back too fiercely?

“Do you think they found Ciri?” Anna asked, sounding fully awake now.

“I don’t know,” Elsa sighed, her stomach churning with anxiety. It felt like her chest was constricting, and she couldn’t stop fidgeting. She wished she had something like her sister’s ribbon to occupy her hands. Behind her, she could hear Anna struggling to sit up. 

“What do you see?”

“They’ve started a bucket brigade,” Elsa reported, trying to wrench her mind away from the thought of Ciri.  _ She’ll be okay, it’s not about her, it’s not about her… _ “About a dozen or so. The fire’s already spread to the next house, though.”

“God dammit,” Anna huffed. “If either of us were there-”

“But we’re not-”

“And even if we were-”

“We wouldn’t be able to use our powers,” Elsa finished bitterly. She watched, continuing to describe the scene to Anna, as the villagers fought desperately to save their homes, but the fire continued spreading. With the beatings administered by the soldiers earlier that day, there weren’t enough able bodies left to fight the blaze. It took hours to control the fire, and by then, over half the village had burned to the ground. The village congregated in the small town square, and even from here, Elsa could hear the raised voices as people tried to figure out what to do now.

Heins and Kristoff returned in the late afternoon, sweaty, covered in soot, and looking very upset. “What’s wrong?” Elsa asked, rising to her feet, wincing when her knee refused to flex. Neither answered, but they shared an uneasy look. Elsa’s fear and anxiety spiked. “What is it?” she asked again.

“Had to go,” Heins said evasively. “Harold himself was part of that group of Empire. People started asking about us.”

“Okay…?” Heins and Kristoff were still uneasy, shifting their weight from one foot to the other. “What is it?” 

“Els…” Kristoff said. “Ciri might have been in that fire.”

“What?” Anna gasped.

“We heard people talking,” Heins muttered. He didn’t meet Elsa’s eyes. “Girl stumbled into town yesterday. Ashen hair. The family whose home that was took her in.”

These words hit Elsa like physical blows. The pain in her knee all but forgotten, she spun on her heel and darted towards the village. She  _ had _ to see. Ciri couldn’t have been in there. She  _ couldn’t _ have been. She heard someone coming up behind her, then something grabbed onto her hand and pulled her to a stop.

“Elsa, hold on.” It was Heins. She tried to pull away, but he held on tight. “Elsa!” he said sharply.

His tone managed to bring her back to reality. “What?”

“We came back to get you, Elsa. You don’t have to run off. Come this way. Kristoff will bring Anna. We’re going to see.” Without waiting for an answer, he dropped her hand and walked away. After a moment’s hesitation, Elsa followed, feeling numb. Heins led her around the village to a small path leading from the village up into the mountains, then followed that into town. Elsa’s heart sank further when she saw the destruction up close. The house the fire had started in was all but destroyed. Charred beams stuck up at odd angles from the pile of debris that was once the roof. One of the walls had collapsed, tipping over on the interior side of the house, covering it in beams and chunks of burnt wood.

“Ciri was in there?” Elsa said. She became aware she was crying.

“We don’t know that, honey. Let’s look around.” 

Elsa’s heart thundered as she took tentative steps towards the destroyed house. Bits of it were still blazing. “Should I…?”

Heins looked around. “I don’t see anyone. They must still be gathered in the square. Be quick.”

With a twitch of her wrist, Elsa smothered the remaining flames. Small bursts of steam hissed from three or four patches, but other than that, there was no indication anything had changed. Elsa and Heins crossed the ruined threshold and knelt down, poking through the rubble, and though neither of them said it, both looking for bodies. Each piece of debris Elsa flipped over caused her heart to clench, only to relax when she found no one underneath, then to clench again with the next piece of debris. She thought she was in what had been a bedroom. She was finding what she thought was a bed, along with some pieces of fabric, burned beyond recognition. As she rifled through the scattered fabrics, she discovered that some pieces had escaped the worst of the inferno, buried below others. It was a pile of clothes. A brown shirt, a pair of green pants, a torn white blouse with flecks of dark red, almost brown, like blood-

Elsa froze, her hands still on the blouse. She stared at it. She stood up slowly, holding it out in front of her. Ciri had a blouse just like this. Had she been wearing it on the Spirit?

“Elsa,” Heins said softly. She turned, still holding out the blouse. She saw recognition and despair flash over his face before he nodded down at his feet. “I found bodies. I think…” His voice broke, and he swallowed hard. “I think one of them is Ciri.”

Elsa stumbled over to him. She looked down. There were four bodies there, charred and ruined, nearly unrecognizable as human. A man and a woman, along with a younger boy, and a girl. 

“I-is that…” Elsa turned at the sound of Anna’s voice to see her and Kristoff standing outside the ruined doorframe at the back of the house. She hadn’t even heard them approach.

“I don’t know,” Heins said. “But… it’s her height. About her build. Elsa found a blouse that looks like hers.”

“God dammit,” Kristoff muttered. He took a step closer to them, then paused. He frowned and looked down, at something he had stepped on, just outside where the wall had been. He knelt down and picked something up. “Oh no,” he moaned. In his hands was the blackened shape of Anna’s knife. Elsa walked over and took it from him with trembling fingers. She stared down at the charred blade. She wasn’t sad. Not exactly, anyway. The sadness, she knew, would come later. Right now, she felt nothing but rage.

“I think the next step is clear,” Kristoff said, after a few moments of silence. 

“No,” Elsa said, interrupting Kristoff. She noticed him look at her from the corner of her eye, but she couldn’t tear her gaze away from the blackened blade in her hands.

“What do you mean, ‘no’?”

“We’re not just going to move on to find the Air Temple.”

“Elsa, I-”

“I’m going to avenge her-”

“Elsa,” Anna tried to interject, but Elsa spoke over her.

“Even if I have to do it alone, I’m going to fucking kill Harold-”

“ELSA!” Heins hissed, grabbing her arm. Elsa tried to keep talking over him, but Heins plowed on. “That’s what he meant!”

Elsa’s mouth opened and closed twice as she finally looked up at Heins. “Huh?” 

“Of course that’s what I meant,” Kristoff said. His face was intense and furious. “Same as Hubert. We need to kill them anyway. Ciri was innocent. She was harmless. He’s going to die.”

Elsa looked between Anna and Heins. Both their faces were contorted with grief and anger. “He didn’t even just kill Ciri,” Anna snarled. “He killed a family whose only crime was meeting Ciri. He’s going to fucking die.”

“And we’re going to do it,” Heins confirmed. 

“Thank you…”

“No thanks necessary,” Anna said, waving it away. “It’s personal for all of us.”

“How do we find him?” Kristoff asked.

Heins ran a hand over his chin. “He’s probably back in the capitol by now. And to get there, we need a ship.”

“You want me to make another one?” Elsa asked. It was brutally difficult work, but she would do it in a heartbeat if it meant avenging Ciri.

“No. We don’t need a full ship like that for this. I saw some ships in the village today that would work.”

“We don’t have money to rent them,” Anna said, then after a moment- “Oh. Right.”

“We can leave tonight, if you two feel up to it.”

Anna and Elsa locked eyes, and Elsa had no doubt what Anna’s answer would be. “Let’s go.”


	69. Crimes of the Empire: Anna - Fear

Anna leaned her back against Kristoff, her injured leg stretched out in front of her on the tiny deck of the ship, and examined her sister. She was leaning up against the short railing, her back to them, hands on the side of the ship as it bounced through the low waves, her hair fluttering around her in the cold night air. She had spoken very little during the heist, which had been smooth and uneventful. The village had still been trying to recover from the loss of their homes, and no one spared a glance for the four people walking down the docks. Once Heins had set sail, she took to staring out at the sea, silent, as the ship made its way out of the small port and onto the open waters, not meeting anyone’s eyes. Without a doubt, Anna had also been very fond of Ciri. Her cheer and good nature had kept her going during some very hard times. But she also harbored no illusions about the fact that Elsa cared about Ciri a great deal more. Anna sighed. She understood all too well now how helpless Elsa must have felt when Kristoff was thought dead.

“Help me up,” she murmured to Kristoff. He stood and pulled her to her feet, before handing her her crutch.

“Give a shout if you need something, okay?”

“I will.” She gave him a kiss and made her way over to her sister, taking care not to trip as the ship rolled and bobbed. “...Elsa?” Elsa did not answer, or even seem to hear Anna. She just continued staring out at the sea. Anna positioned herself so that she was leaning on the railing, taking the weight off her bad leg, then put a gentle hand on Elsa’s shoulder. She started and looked over.

“Oh. Anna.”

“Do… do you wanna talk?”

Elsa dropped her gaze and wrapped her arms around her middle. “I’m fine.”

“Elsa.”

She sighed. “What is there to talk about, Anna?”

“Stop blaming yourself, for a start.”

“How the hell am I supposed to do that? I led the lamb to the slaughter.”

“Ciri wasn’t a lamb, Elsa. She was a woman. A young woman, yes. But a woman. She knew what she was getting into.”

“She couldn’t possibly know-”

“Elsa. Did you really think so little of her?” 

Elsa gaped at her. “Of course not!” 

“Then why are you saying this like she was just some idiot following you around?” Elsa didn’t reply, she just looked even more despondent. Anna tilted her head back and closed her eyes, breathing deep. She needed to be more delicate about this. This wasn’t like after Weselton, where Elsa had needed a more firm touch. If she was too confrontational now, all she would accomplish would be twisting the knife and driving Elsa further into despair. She could see both Heins and Kristoff looking at them, but thankfully, neither of them spoke. “Elsa, look at me,” Anna continued, much more gently. She waited until Elsa’s eyes met hers. “Ciri is not the first, or the last, person to die too young in this war.”

“I know that, Anna.”

“She came with us because she believed in our fight. Because she believed in  _ you _ . She wasn’t some ignorant child. Let me ask you something.”

“Okay?”

“How old were you when dad started teaching you how to be Queen?”

Elsa looked down. “Eleven.”

Anna put her hands out. “Younger than Ciri. She was not someone to be coddled, Elsa. Life as she knew it died with her father. Once she saved us… she was never going to have peace after that until after the war. You did all you could to do right by her in a hellish world. Unfortunately…” She fiddled with the blue ribbon on her arm. “Sometimes people die too young. All we can do is keep fighting. For Ciri. For Caleb. For Liam, and Alarik, and the Rastons, and everyone else.” Anna turned to the sea, trying to leverage her weight off her bad leg. Elsa remained quiet for a while, her eyes closed and her brow creased.

“Do… do you think she regretted it?” Elsa asked in a trembling voice. Anna looked over and saw tears leaking between Elsa’s closed lids. 

“What, coming with you?” Elsa nodded miserably. “No. Not for one second.” She put one hand on Elsa’s shoulder, and Elsa put her own over it. “And they’re going to  _ pay _ for what they did. I promise.”

“Damn right they are,” Elsa muttered, squeezing Anna’s hand, then wiping her eyes with her other. “Thanks, Anna. There’s only one problem with that, though.”

“What’s that?”

“You’re in no shape to fight. You can’t even use a bow.”

“You’re not going without me.”

“Anna, you can’t-”

“Yes I can,” Anna said, with as much fire as she could muster, determined to prove she could fight. But fate had other ideas. Just then, the boat lurched, knocking Anna off the railing. Most of her weight came down on her right ankle, which buckled the instant it touched the deck. She toppled over, twisting at the last second to land on her left side, to spare her bad arm and shoulder from the brunt of the impact. She hit the deck with a solid  _ thunk _ , and she grunted as pain shot through her whole body. Her ribs, her arm, her shoulder, her ankle- all were aflame with agony.

“Anna!” She heard both Elsa and Kristoff cry out, and then they were both there, looking down at her with concern. “Are you okay?” Elsa asked.

“‘m fine,” Anna hissed through tightly clenched teeth, breathing hard. Her head was spinning, and she closed her eyes, trying to settle it.

“Still think you can fight?” Elsa asked incredulously.

“You are  _ not _ fighting anytime soon, Anna,” Kristoff agreed. 

“No way in hell,” Heins offered from the wheel.

Anna rolled onto her back with a grunt and glared up at them. “I’m not about to sit here while you guys go off and fight-”

“Oh yes you are,” Kristoff said. 

“Not a chance-”

“Anna.” The simple plaintiveness of the word caught Anna off guard, and her protest trailed off as she looked at her sister. Elsa’s eyes were brimming with tears. “Please don’t. Please… I can’t lose you too…”

Heins and Kristoff’s eyes slid to Anna, waiting for her response. “Okay,” she murmured. 

Elsa’s thumb caressed Anna’s cheek. “Thank you.”

“Don’t think I’m not going to help however I can, though,” Anna warned, as Kristoff helped her to her feet. 

“Wouldn’t expect any less,” Kristoff said. 

Elsa stepped forward and hugged Anna tenderly. “I love you, sis.” Anna returned the embrace.

“I love you too, Elsa.”


	70. Crimes of the Empire: Kristoff - Afterlife

Kristoff didn’t know what was stronger, his sorrow, his rage, or his drive for revenge. He had liked Ciri, as they all did, and as much as it hurt to think about how short her life had been cut, seeing Elsa’s face was worse. Elsa had an unusually strong bond with the young woman, and Kristoff had no trouble seeing why. She had been a near perfect split between the sisters. Enough of Elsa’s selflessness, anxiety, and occasional careless grace for Elsa to see a kindred spirit in her, mixed in with a healthy portion of Anna’s cheer, enthusiasm, and occasional clumsiness that made Anna Elsa’s best friend in the first place. 

He also thought it might have had something to do with Ciri’s past. She had a hard life, a mother she never knew, a dead father. Perhaps Elsa saw in her a chance to give Ciri the life she had been robbed of? To be able to pull her out of the mire nearly a decade earlier than Elsa herself had been, to see what might have become of Elsa if things had been different? Kristoff wasn’t sure. But it hurt like hell to know none of them would get to find out.

“Kristoff, this’ll be rough, hold on to Anna,” Heins warned. “And Elsa, watch that leg.” The ship was making a fast approach towards a low, sandy beach on the Southern Isles’ horseshoe-shaped capitol island, on the backside of the castle. A sheer cliff rose a hundred feet up between the beach and the castle walls- an insurmountable challenge for most. Practice for Kristoff. He gathered Anna up in his arms and braced on the side of the ship. Elsa gripped the railing, her weight on her right leg. “Hang on,” Heins called.

With a loud thump, the bottom of the ship thudded against the shallow seafloor. The four of them lurched forward, Kristoff using his limbs as extra shock absorption for Anna, who still let out a small whimper as the ship pitched to the side. It tilted alarmingly before coming to a stop, at around thirty degrees in water about a foot deep. “Everyone good?” asked Heins, making his way over to them.

“Yeah,” Kristoff and Anna replied. Elsa only nodded.

“Alright.” Without further ado, Heins vaulted over the railing, landing with a small splash in the knee-high water. “Kristoff, hand them down.”

“You ready?” Kristoff asked Anna. She nodded. Together, they managed to hoist Anna over the railing and lower her down, where Heins took her and lowered her the rest of the way, and she leaned against the ship while Heins turned back to Kristoff. “Your turn,” Kristoff said, turning to Elsa. As her arms were functional, it was much easier to help Elsa. Kristoff hardly did anything, just had a hand on Elsa as she climbed over, in case she fell and her leg wasn’t responsive enough to catch her. Kristoff turned again, opening his mouth, and then closed it again. He blinked back the tears that welled up without warning. Ciri’s absence struck him like a warhammer to the chest. She had been so young. Not much older than Lilly. So much life left to live. Hatred for Harold swelled up in Kristoff’s gut, as well as a deeper sense of regret. He had met Harold, alone. Before all of this had happened. If he had the slightest inkling of what would come of the world, he would have struck Harold down where he stood without a second thought. A mistake he intended to rectify. He leapt down from the ship.

Kristoff awoke near midmorning. The four of them had taken shelter in one of the dozens of small caves pockmarking the cliff, and tried to get some sleep before moving on. The ship was gone, ripped apart by a combination of Elsa and Kristoff’s magic and scattered to the waves. It turned out sand could do a lot of damage to wood if it wormed its way inside it first. Kristoff opened his eyes. Anna and Heins were still asleep, but Elsa was not. She sat upright at the mouth of the cave, her back to the others, facing the ocean. Her hair fluttered in the cool sea breeze. As silently as he could, Kristoff got up and crept over to her.

“Hey Kristoff,” she muttered without turning around.

“Hey Els.” Kristoff sat down next to her. “How’d you know it was me?”

“The way you move. It’s… clumpy.”

Kristoff chuckled softly. “You know, I’ve heard that before, believe it or not. Did you sleep well?”

“Didn’t sleep. Couldn’t.”

Kristoff looked over, concerned. Elsa looked terrible. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy, her face was red, and there were bags under her eyes. Tear tracks stained her cheeks. She’d been crying- recently, too, from the looks of it.

“Do you want to talk?” There was a pause, and then Elsa shook her head. “Do you want to be alone?” There was another pause, much longer this time, and then Elsa let out a tiny sob and shook her head again. “Oh, Els,” Kristoff sighed, putting his arm around her shoulders. She slipped hers around his waist and leaned against him, her head resting on his shoulder, gently crying. A teardrop dripped from Elsa’s nose and landed on Kristoff’s leg.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, sniffing and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Hey, don’t be.” Kristoff gave Elsa an affectionate squeeze. “I understand. I miss her too.” They sat in silence for a long while, Kristoff wishing he could do more, before Elsa broke it.

“It… doesn’t feel real yet.”

“I know what you mean,” Kristoff sighed. “There was a moment yesterday- today- whenever that was, on the boat. I helped you and Anna down, then turned around again, to-”

“To help Ciri.”

“Yeah...”

“Kristoff… what…” Elsa trailed off. Kristoff waited patiently. If she didn’t want to finish the question, he wouldn’t pressure her. After a long silence, she continued. “What do you think happens to us when we die?”

He looked at her, but she didn’t meet his eyes, only continued staring at the ground. “That’s a pretty big question, Els.”

“I know. You don’t have to answer-”

“No, it’s okay.” Kristoff turned his gaze to the sea. The morning sun made it seem like the ocean was full of a trillion twinkling gems. He breathed deep, smelling the salty air and feeling the gentle breeze on his face. “I asked my mother about that once. She said we go somewhere better. A paradise, watched over by the gods. Where the sun’s always shining, and the weather is always fair. Green grass as far as the eye can see. Great halls for feasting and dancing. Fresh game for hunting and fresh fruit for picking.”

“That sounds wonderful.”

“It does.”

“Do you believe it?” Kristoff paused, not sure if he should answer truthfully. In the end, his hesitation answered for him. “I see.”

“Sorry, Els. I didn’t want to lie.”

“I know.”

“I just…” Kristoff let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t know. I don’t think anyone can. What do you believe?”

“I used to think like your mother. That we’d go somewhere better. But now… with all this… I don’t know either. I think… with everything that’s happened, with everything we’ve all gone through… I don’t know if I can believe that something good waits for us at the end.”

“Sorry I wasn’t more help.”

Elsa shook her head. “Don’t. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one who isn’t sure.”

“Els…. I know I haven’t really said it yet, but… I’m really sorry about Ciri.”

“Me too, Kristoff.”

“I love you, Els.”

A tiny smile tugged at the corner of Elsa’s mouth. “My my, what would my sister say?” 

Kristoff rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean.”

She let out a tiny giggle. “I do. I love you too, Kristoff.” She fell silent for a short while. Her eyes were closed, and she looked marginally more at peace than she did when Kristoff first woke. When she spoke again, her voice was soft but level. “Are… are we being foolish?”

“What do you mean?”

“I want to kill Harold. It’s almost all I can think about… but is that really the most important thing? Are we being stupid? Putting aside the real job?”

Kristoff contemplated this as he watched the ocean. He had similar thoughts himself. He wanted to avenge Ciri, and that family who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. He wanted to help Elsa get her revenge. But he couldn’t help but think they were acting irrationally, based on emotion. Then again…

“I can’t answer that for sure, Els. But maybe rather than completely change course, we just adjust the one we’re on?” She looked quizzically at him. “Well, we can just use this as an opportunity to find the magician that destroyed the Spirit. He might have the Air Spirit anyway, so even if we found the Temple, Valefor might not be in it. We had to use the Empire to find Earth, isn’t it reasonable to assume they found Air?”

“I suppose,” Elsa relented.

“And we did the same thing with Hubert,” Kristoff continued, half trying to convince Elsa, half himself. “We can do more than one thing. We can kill that bastard and continue our work at the same time.”

“I guess you’re right,” Elsa sighed, and Kristoff felt some of the remaining tension melt out of her shoulders. “Thanks, Kristoff.”

“You’re welcome, Els.”


	71. Crimes of the Empire: Heins - War Is Hell

“Alright, listen up,” Heins said, once they had all woken up and wolfed down a measly breakfast of berries and fruits they scavenged from the sparse vegetation on the cliffside. The other three looked over at him. “Aalborg is heavily defended. This cliff we’re in provides natural cover from the backside of the castle. The front is manned at all hours of the day and night by no fewer than a hundred men, who rotate in shifts, a minimum of twenty five at all times. The walls are twenty feet high and are stocked with enough bows and arrows to last through a month-long siege without running low. And there will be no ice-jumping this time,” he added quickly, seeing Anna open her mouth. “There are iron spikes raked out and down to prevent attacks from over the wall. We’d be skewered.”

“Fine,” Anna grumbled.

“In addition to the walls, there’s also the Watchtowers to contend with. They overlook the whole island- the whole island save for this cliff, as no one has ever tried to climb it as part of an attack before. These towers are dangerous for two reasons- first, they house additional men, who can fire arrows at their leisure at anyone outside or inside the walls from relative safety. The other is… well, do you all know what quicklime is?” Elsa and Anna both nodded, but Kristoff cocked his head, puzzled. “It’s a powder that reacts- violently- with water. It creates a light so bright that it will blind you for quite some time if you look at it, as well as producing poisonous smoke. The Southern Isles weaponized it long ago, to defend from pirates. The Watchtowers are filled with these weapons. If we make an attempt on Harold’s life, there is a very good chance they will use them, throw them from the towers, try to blind or kill anyone they can see.

“Here’s what I think. I think that we sent the Queensguard to wreak havoc on the mainland. I suggest we do the same here. If we can get the people riled up enough, we can start a rebellion here, and use that as cover to break into the castle to kill Harold.”

“Do you think the people here are as against the Empire as much as the mainland?” Anna asked. “Not to put too fine a point on it, Heins, but the rulers of the Empire are the Southern Isles royal family. Wouldn’t they see the Empire as just ‘The Southern Isles but bigger’?”

“I’ve worried about that for a long time,” Heins admitted. “But I think, even if they did think that at one point, I don’t think they would now. The Empire just slaughtered a family and burned down half a village. There’s bound to be some anger after that. Hell, the village was damn near ready to storm the castle yesterday.”

“Yeah,” Kristoff agreed. “I haven’t seen people that angry in a while.”

“Kristoff, do you have people here in Aalborg?” Elsa asked.

“I have people everywhere. I can get the word out if you give me a few days.”

“Hang on,” Anna said, raising her good hand to cut Kristoff off. “Revolution is great, but that doesn’t solve the problem of us- you,” she corrected quickly, after Elsa shot her a glare, “getting into the castle. How are we going to do that?”

Before Heins could respond, a swirl of sand shot through the cave, then solidified into half a dozen arrows, all floating around Kristoff, pointing at him. 

“Oh, right,” Anna said. “You’re getting good at that.”

“It’s way easier with sand,” Kristoff said, shrugging, flicking the arrows back out of the cave. He looked at Heins. “It’ll take a long time to get through this much rock, you know.”

“How long?”

“A couple days, at least. More if I need to meet people in town.”

“Leave that to us,” Elsa said. “Just tell us how to contact them, we’ll handle the busy work.”

It took Kristoff four days to make the path, a long spiral staircase chiseled through the rock. He had to take several breaks a day to regain his strength, but made good progress. In the meantime, the others had plenty to keep them busy. Heins taught the others the layout of the castle and planned their assault, assisted by Anna, who had been to the castle on more than one occasion on her sister’s behalf a few times since meeting Heins. They drew the layout on the cave floor using a charcoal stick, mapped out escape routes, likely guard patrols, and Harold’s most common whereabouts based on Heins’s memory and what he knew of him. 

Heins and Elsa also made frequent trips into the city- heavily disguised, of course- to contact Kristoff’s people. Heins, as it turned out, was correct about the populace. From what they could gather, the initial patriotic fervor of the Southern Isles “uniting” the other kingdoms under one flag had faded in the weeks and months following the Empire’s establishment. Hans’s and Harold’s brutal cruelty had seen to that. They had just been waiting for their chance, an excuse to fight back, and Heins and Elsa were very happy to provide it. They were even able to arrange for a ship to come pick them up from the beach the night of the attack, owned by one of Kristoff’s most trusted contacts.

“He’ll be working late, I’m sure of it,” Heins said. “He’s a control freak. He can’t stand other people making decisions. We can use that to our advantage. The castle will be emptier than during the day, but he’ll be less protected than he would be in his chambers while he sleeps.”

“Where will he be?”

“One of a few places. We’ll have to check them. He could be in the King’s office-” Heins indicated the chamber to the rear of the throne room- “the library-” a large room on the second floor- “or down near the dungeons-” a small room in the lower levels, away from the main prison cells.

“Hmm…” Anna’s face was thoughtful, and she leaned towards Elsa, peering at her sister with an inquisitive eye.

“What?” Elsa asked, leaning away from Anna with her eyebrow raised.

“How many swords could you make at once, Elsa?”

“Uhh… I’m not sure…” Elsa mused. “Perhaps… a dozen, very quickly? More if I was given a bit of time. Why?”

“If you wind up in the dungeons… the people in them aren’t likely to be too fond of the Empire either. You could break them out, arm them. You know… fires of rebellion, and all that.”

“That might work…” Heins said. “But... that’d be a suicide mission for the prisoners. They’d be unprepared and likely not in the best fighting shape.”

Anna averted her eyes without answering. Elsa came to her sister’s defense. “It’s war. We won’t force them to do anything they don’t want to do.”

Anna had just enough time to shoot Elsa a small, grateful smile, and then there was the sound of clumping footsteps. Kristoff appeared at the bottom of his staircase, red faced and wiping sweat from his brow. “How’s it going down here?” he asked, panting. He frowned, looking around. “What’s wrong?”

No one answered for a moment, so Heins spoke up. “War is hell, Kristoff, nothing more than that.”

Kristoff’s face grew somber. “Yeah.” He glanced back up the staircase. “Um… I think I’m there. Stone a few feet above where it ends is chiseled. I assume it’s the foundation.”

“You can tell that?” Heins asked, surprised.

“I can. It… feels different. I can’t really explain it, I can just… tell.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. Trust me.”

“I do, I just… I can’t fathom how you would be able to tell.”

“Yeah… it’s weird. But with any luck, soon you might be able to know what I mean.” He looked at the charcoal drawing of the castle’s layout. “When do we move?”


	72. Crimes of the Empire: Elsa - Vengeance

“Ready?” Kristoff whispered. Heins and Elsa both nodded, blades gripped tightly in their hands. With a graceful shoving motion, the bricks in front of Kristoff slid silently forward, then rotated out of the way, revealing a tiny room cluttered with brooms, rags, and other maid supplies.

“Perfect,” Elsa muttered, lowering her sword. “Heins, find out where we are.” Heins nodded and crept past them to the door. He pressed his ear to it, eyes closed, listening hard. He must have heard nothing, as he cracked the door and peered outside. He closed it again immediately.

“Servant’s quarters. First floor, eastern side of the castle. Dungeon’s close. Follow me.”

The three of them slipped out of the closet into the deserted moonlit hallway. Staying close to the wall, Heins led the way as they crept along the corridor, ears straining to pick up any hint of footsteps or voices. Elsa’s knee was stiff, but she forced it to keep flexing, gritting her teeth through the pain. They got to the stairwell, then Heins threw up his hand in a fist, and both Elsa and Kristoff froze. A moment later, voices reverberated from the stairs in front of them. Kristoff and Heins pressed themselves against the wall on either side of the door, while Elsa stood in plain sight in the middle of the hall, around twenty feet from the stairs.

“... and then she tried to run, right? And-”

Two men exited the stairwell at the same time. Both men’s laughter died as they hesitated at the sight of Elsa, but before they could decide what to do, knives entered both of their throats. They collapsed, gurgling, and Elsa, Kristoff, and Heins set off down the stairs, leaving the bodies where they were. No way to hide those bloodstains, and it wouldn’t matter soon anyway. They arrived at the dungeons, a long, low hallway, lined with cells, with two guards standing watch. Before either of them could raise any type of alarm, they collapsed with icicles protruding from their hearts.

“Kristoff,” Elsa prompted, beginning to make swords as fast as she could, piling up near the door. “Time to start the revolution.” Kristoff raised his arms, and with the terrific sound of twisting metal and cracking rock, the cell doors fractured, then fell, the hinges having been rent from the walls by Kristoff’s magic. Kristoff bent down and began wrapping the grips of the swords with rags, to protect the people’s hands. Tired and confused prisoners started stumbling into the hall, around fifty in all, mostly men, though there were a few women, all beaten and bruised. Their faces lit up with glee and vicious satisfaction when they saw their jailers’ bodies, each of them snatching a weapon and scanning the area.

“Your Highness!” one cried, spotting Heins. Excited chatter broke out as the prisoners rushed towards them, but Heins raised his hands.

“People of the Southern Isles!” The mob slowed and watched, eyes wide and excited, to hear what Heins would say. “For two years the Empire has ground you beneath its heel. Stealing the fruits of your hard-won labor. Spreading famine and death. I have fought them with all my might, many times, across many battles.” His voice softened, and he grew somber. ”It has not been enough, and for that, I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I could not do more for my countrymen. But no more!” he roared, firing up again. “Today that ends! Today, we light the fire! Today, I bid you join my fight! Take up arms! Fight! Spread the cause! Rally your brothers! Not only the Southern Isles, but across the whole of the Empire! Go forth as one, and take back the kingdoms which were stolen from you! Today… we mark the beginning of the end of the Empire!”

A bloodthirsty cry rose up from the assembled prisoners, the echo in the dungeon multiplying their number tenfold. “What are we waiting for?” shouted one, a huge man with a grizzled beard that reminded Elsa very much of Liam. He charged out of the door, barreling up the stairs, screaming a feral war cry. The others rushed after him, their voices joining his in shared rage.

“That worked well,” Kristoff said, once the hallway had emptied. “Let’s go.”

“Wait,” Elsa said. “Check the other cells. Could be people bound, or injured.”

“Good call. Hang on.” With that, Kristoff darted down the hall, his head swinging left and right as he checked each cell while Elsa turned to Heins.

“We need to-” she started to say, but she cut off at Kristoff’s shout.

“Elsa, Heins! Get over here!” 

Elsa and Heins exchanged a brief look, then hurried down the hall, their blades at the ready. “What is it?” Elsa asked. Kristoff did not answer, just pointed into the cell and took a shaky step backward. Elsa turned. In the cell, huddled in the corner, her knees drawn close to her chest and her arms wrapped around them, her eyes shut tight, was someone Elsa thought she’d never see again.

“Ciri...” Elsa gasped, her jaw dropping and her brain clunking to a screeching halt. She looked from Kristoff, to Heins, then back to Ciri twice before it managed to restart. “Ciri!” she squealed, like a little girl, but she couldn’t help it, it was incredible, a miracle, she dashed forward, raising her arms, hardly daring to believe-

“No!” Ciri screamed, scrambling away on her hands and knees, cowering in the other corner, making herself as small as possible. One eye was open now, wild with fear, almost rabid, the other swollen shut. Her face was black and blue, and Elsa could see dried blood around her fingers. With a sickening lurch of horror, she realized several of Ciri’s fingernails were missing. “Don’t! Please don’t! I’ve been good, I promise!” 

“Ciri, what-” Elsa stammered, stepping closer on instinct, not understanding, yearning to comfort her, but-

“NO! Get away! Please! Don’t hurt me! I’ll be good!” Ciri was trembling, her hands over her head, cowering away from Elsa. Elsa stood as still as a statue, her mind reeling, trying to process.

“What’s wrong with her?” Heins’s shocked voice made Elsa jump.

“I don’t know,” she said breathlessly. Ciri’s eye was fixed on hers, and the fear in it ripped Elsa’s heart in two. Disbelief and relief at seeing Ciri alive mixed with shock and horror at her state. Rage was bubbling up in Elsa’s gut as Heins took tentative steps into the cell. Ciri’s eye darted back and forth between the two, overflowing with terror.

“What did those bastards do to her…”

“Hurt her,” Elsa said, her voice trembling with fury. Frost spread beneath Elsa’s feet, and crept up the blade of her sword. She noted this with mild interest. It had been a long time since her powers had come out unconsciously. “I’m going to make them pay.”

“We can’t move her like this,” Kristoff pointed out.

“Lock her in,” Heins said to Elsa. “She’s not in her right mind. If she leaves we won’t be able to find her easily. We’ll come back for her.”

Elsa looked at Ciri. She was pale as a ghost, her eye crazed with fear. “I’m so sorry, Ciri,” Elsa whispered. 

“Go away,” she whimpered. “I’m a good girl…”

“I’ll come back for you. I promise.” With that, she sealed Ciri into the cell with a wave of her hand. A spiderweb of ice crawled over the entrance. Ciri did not react. She only stared. Elsa’s gaze dropped to the floor. She felt Heins’s and Kristoff’s hands on her shoulders.

“Let’s tear this fucking place apart,” Heins growled. Magic swirled around Elsa’s fingertips. She turned around, and saw her own fury reflected on the faces of both men. Elsa nodded.

Elsa, Heins, and Kristoff sprinted back up the dungeon and up the stairs. Elsa’s vision seemed tinged red with her bloodlust. The first evidence of the new war was waiting for them at the top of the stairs. Sprawled on the floor of the first floor landing were the remains of several bodies, one prisoner among them. The guards had been butchered by the furious mob. It was not immediately apparent how many guards there had been, but judging from the bits she could identify, Elsa guessed around three. Ahead, they could hear the fierce sounds of combat, but before they could move more than a few feet, they heard stampeding boots coming from behind them, coming down the stairs from the second floor. A dozen guards came into view, pulling up when they saw the three waiting for them. Elsa’s bloodlust peaked, but Kristoff spoke first.

“Surrender or die,” Kristoff snarled, to Elsa’s disappointment.

“Get them!” one shouted.

_ Yes. _

“Leave one alive,” Elsa snapped, readying her blade, then leaping forward with a wild scream. Neither she nor Kristoff used their powers yet, charging into the group alongside Heins. Not because of any desire to remain hidden- that time had passed- but because both wanted to  _ feel _ these men die, to rip and tear them apart, to snuff out the lives of those who had hurt Ciri, who had caused so much pain and suffering. The men were green, inexperienced, too afraid of being the first to perish that they did not attack as one, and they fell as though they were wheat before a scythe, soaking Elsa in their blood. She’d never relished the feeling quite like this, the subtle sensation of carving steel through flesh and sinew, the sweet, pungent smell of blood, the feel of the warm splashes of red on her skin, every furious stroke of her sword feeling like one small piece of revenge for the young woman in the cell downstairs. When there were only three left, the remainder tried to flee. “Take the one on the right,” Elsa ordered. She killed the one on the left with a flurry of icicles that shot straight through the man's torso, ripping him apart, splattering the floor in front of him with a shower of blood and bits of entrails before both halves of him landed. With another quick motion, she trapped the other’s legs in ice. Kristoff dealt with his mark via a brick from the wall, which slid back into place covered in blood, hair, and grey lumps of flesh.

The man Elsa had trapped was trying to crawl away. Elsa strode over to him and kicked him in the ribs. He grunted and rolled onto his back. “What did they do to the girl? The ashen-haired one?” she demanded, leaning over him.

“I don’t know!”

“Don’t lie,” Kristoff hissed, driving his sword into the man’s thigh, where it clinked against the stone beneath. The soldier arched his back and screamed in pain.

“I’m not! I swear! I don’t know!”

“Where’s Harold?” Heins shot at him.

“Throne room!” the guard gasped. “Please-” Whatever plea he had been about to offer was cut short by Heins’s boot on his face. Heins stomped, and stomped, and stomped, screaming with fury, until the soldier stopped twitching. He looked up, breathing hard, his jaw clenched. Kristoff was grinning savagely. Approvingly. So was Elsa.

Elsa straightened up. “Let’s go!” They tore through the hallways, killing all who stood in their way. The whole castle was awake now, and the conflict spread throughout the corridors like a plague, choking the hallways with death and blood. They moved through as fast as they could, always driving towards the throne room. The prisoners were not the only ones fighting with them now. Some of the guards had torn off their Empire uniforms and fought against their former comrades. Outside the windows, Elsa could see buildings aflame and men rushing through the streets of Aalborg. Bursts of bright light and smoke erupted throughout the courtyard- the Watchtowers had begun using quicklime. The revolution was catching. All it had needed was a spark, a spark Elsa was only too happy to provide. Death was everywhere. All three of them were soaked in blood, very little of it their own. Some of the servants fled through the carnage, hands over their heads. Others picked up weapons of their own, to join the fight on one side or another. Elsa, Heins, and Kristoff reined in their bloodlust just enough to spare those who did not impede them, but showed no quarter whatsoever to those who did.

“YAAAHHHH!!!!” A guard leapt out from a window alcove, sword flashing in the moonlight, stabbing towards Elsa’s gut. Before Elsa could react, the blade was knocked aside by the same man who reminded Elsa of Liam. With a ferocious roar, he picked up the guard and threw him out the window, his screams fading, mingling with the tinkling noise of shattered glass falling on stone. Elsa could see the ocean on the other side, which meant that the guard had a very long time to contemplate his demise. The bearded man grinned viciously at them before returning to the fray, and Elsa turned in time to see a trio of guards charging at them. 

“Which way now?” Kristoff shouted, parrying a wild blow from one of the guards as he did so.

“Left!” Elsa cried, killing a new foe with a thrust through the heart. Kristoff’s enemy fell, around a head shorter than he had been. “Come-”

There was a burst of what sounded like rushing wind. Elsa whipped her head around to see half a dozen men, including the large bearded man, flying head over heels through the air fifty feet away, hitting the stone walls with tremendous force. Elsa could hear the bones shattering from here. 

“Magician!” she screamed, seizing Heins’s hand and pulling him behind a statue just before another burst of wind tore down the hallway, shredding tapestries, ripping up rugs, throwing both friend and foe aside. Kristoff barely managed to take cover in time, on the other side of the hallway. The magician strode down the corridor, sending bursts of wind left and right as fighters tried to swarm him, his face contorted with fury beneath disheveled red hair-

“It’s Harold!” Elsa gasped. “Heins, stay back, he’ll kill you- Kristoff, with me!” Before Heins could protest, Elsa and Kristoff flung themselves out into the hallway. Elsa threw a blast of icicles at Harold, but he knocked them aside with a rush of wind, recognition dawning on his face at the sight of her. Kristoff swept the bricks under Harold’s feet to the side, but rather than fall, Harold floated into the air. Elsa and Kristoff’s momentary surprise nearly cost them dearly, as what felt like a solid wall of wind thundered down the hall towards them, carrying bricks, bodies, and other debris with it. Elsa just managed to duck back behind the statue in time, but even then, the rushing wind threatened to pull her back into the center of the hall, and it was only through Heins grabbing her arm that she wasn’t. 

“Elsa!” Kristoff shouted, and she looked over. “Both of you, on me!” Kristoff raised an open hand, then clenched it into a fist. The wall behind him crumbled into near dust, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the castle, but the debris, rather than falling, swirled around Kristoff, coalescing into a smoothly angled shield five feet around. He stepped out, holding it aloft, and the answering blast of air deflected around it.

“Come on!” Elsa cried, pulling Heins with her as she huddled behind Kristoff’s shield, and together, they started to move down the hallway towards Harold. Elsa threw burst after burst up at Harold, but he was too fast to hit, dodging and weaving as he tried to slip around Kristoff’s guard. “I can’t hit him,” Elsa gasped, sweat pouring off her limbs.

“Do something!” Kristoff grunted. “I’m not going to be able to hold this much longer!” Harold had changed tactics, rather than try to overpower Kristoff by attacking from the front, he used his magic to try to pull the shield from him, only to swap back once Kristoff adjusted, and as Elsa watched, he nearly lost his grip-

“Elsa, get ready!” Heins ordered.

“What are you-” Before she could finish the question, Heins had darted out from behind the shield, charging down the hallway. He made it ten yards before Harold blasted him off his feet and slammed him into the wall.  _ NO! _ Trying not to let Heins’s state distract her, she seized the opportunity he’d provided and sent another flurry of icicles up at Harold, who, focusing on his brother, did not manage to dodge in time. They ripped through the side of his abdomen, and Harold’s eyes went wide with pain. He plummeted from the air, smashing into the floor, pushing himself up to all fours, appearing quite dazed. Elsa charged forward, intending to finish him off-

“ENOUGH!” Harold shouted. He threw an arm out, and Elsa braced for the wind, but rather than the expected impact, the air was ripped out of her chest in what felt like the most explosive cough imaginable. She fell to her knees, her sword clattering from her hand, trying to gasp for breath, but nothing happened. Beside her, Kristoff was also on the ground, thrashing about as he tried in vain to pull air into his lungs. Panic, pure, primal panic, flooded Elsa’s body, overriding her mind, clouding her vision. Harold had gotten to his feet, one hand over his wound, looking down at them, other hand still raised. “I control the very air you breathe. You can’t beat me.” Elsa’s vision was getting darker, and she collapsed to the floor, flat on her back, while Harold leaned over her, a malicious grin on his face. She tried to summon the magic, but could not focus her thoughts. “And when I’m done with you, I’ll go down to the dungeons, and spend some quality time with your little friend.” Elsa’s eyes widened in fury, and tried to swing her hand up to strike him, but Harold stomped on her arm, pinning it to the ground. His grin widened. “Ah, so you care for her that much… Perhaps I’ll- ARGHHH!” Harold reeled back as a ball of flame struck him in the face, followed quickly by four more.

The air rushed back into Elsa’s lungs. She rolled over, hacking and coughing, and saw Anna, standing twenty feet away, her face red and furious, throwing fireballs down the hall. Harold was stumbling backward, barely managing to deflect them in time as Anna continued the assault. Elsa staggered to her feet, staying well to the side of Anna’s line of fire, and advanced on Harold, adding her magic to Anna’s, striking where she did not, overwhelming his defenses. He began retreating faster, angling towards a door, trying to get away, but Kristoff had risen, and he looked angrier than ever. With fierce motions, he collapsed the door frames, then the ceiling behind Harold, cutting off his escape with a mountain of debris. Harold tried to leap into the air, but Elsa froze his feet to the ground. He threw another wave of wind at them, but his fear and panic made it weak, no more than a stiff breeze.

“Mercy!” he shouted, raising his hands. Elsa took the opportunity to freeze them together and take a quick glance around- Kristoff was breathing hard, hesitating at Harold’s call, Anna was frozen, her arm cocked back, ready to throw another fireball, and Heins was beginning to stir, shaking his head. 

“What was that?” she demanded, stalking towards Harold, gripping her sword so hard that her arm was shaking. She was clenching her jaw, and she could feel her heart thundering almost painfully in her chest.

“Mercy! I beg you!”

“Ask me again, you sadistic fuck,” Elsa snarled.

“Mercy!”

Elsa paused a foot from Harold.

“One. More. Time.” 

“Mercy... Please.” Harold’s gaze was pleading, begging for the sympathy he’d denied Ciri. Elsa leaned forward, putting her face inches from his.

“... Did she ask you for mercy?” Elsa whispered. Fear flooded Harold’s eyes. She straightened up, and with one furious stroke, she removed Harold’s head from his shoulders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good news is, Ciri is alive. Bad news is, Harold is a very, very, very bad man.


	73. Crimes of the Empire: Heins - The Trial of Valefor

Heins opened his eyes in complete blackness. He was lying on his back, on a hard, smooth surface. He sat up. “Hello?” he called. There was no answer, and strangely, there was also no hint of an echo. It was as though his words had been swallowed up by the darkness upon leaving his lips. He stood up, raising a hand over himself, in case the ceiling was low, and felt around. His hands fell on nothing, just smooth, cold floor all around him. “HELLO!” he called again, much louder this time. There was no response. “Okay…” Heins muttered. He perked up his ears, listening. He thought he could hear something, a buffeting, rushing sound. 

“Greetings Heins, Son of Aleksander,” a deep, carrying voice said. Light bloomed in Heins’s vision. He was in a chamber, so big he could not even guess how far away the circular walls were, nor guess at how high the domed ceiling was. He couldn’t even tell what the walls and floor were made of, and as he watched, he realized it was slowly moving, shifting-  _ it’s smoke! _

Above him flew a beast of gargantuan size that Heins initially took for a bird, but upon further inspection, was closer to a dragon. Its head was birdlike, with a beak that came to a sharp point, and talons at the end of its scaly legs, but its body was long and sinuous, like a snake’s, and covered in golden scales. Great leathery wings beat steadily, keeping the beast aloft as it hovered above him. It peered down at him with keen, intelligent eyes. “Do you know who I am?” it asked.

“You are Valefor, I think,” Heins said. “How did I get here? We didn’t find your Temple.”

The creature let out a booming laugh. “Correct, Heins, Son of Aleksander. You are here because I choose to appear to you. Do you really think I would be confined to a Temple? I am Valefor- no walls can hold me. Harold, Son of Aleksander, is dead, and I am now Unbound.” Heins wasn’t sure what to say, so he remained silent. “You think before you speak,” Valefor boomed. “Good.”

“Will you help me? Will you grant me your power?”

The creature, Valefor, laughed again. “I can help you, Heins, Son of Aleksander, and in fact, I wish to do so, but I’m afraid it is not as simple as making a request. I value my freedom- I do not enjoy it when it is taken away. You must prove to me you are worthy of my assistance.”

It took Heins a moment to realize why this statement didn’t ring completely true. “Did my brother prove himself worthy?”

“No, he did not.”

“Then how did he gain your power?” It was hard to tell, but Heins thought Valefor grinned.

“You are a curious one, Heins, Son of Aleksander. The Source commanded me to serve Harold, Son of Aleksander, and so I could not refuse. The Source holds dominion over me, as it does the other Spirits, when they are not bound to an individual, that is.”

“And Hans is controlling the Source, somehow…” Heins muttered to himself. Looking back up at Valefor, he called, “That’s why you want to help me, isn’t it? To free the Source?” There was no answer, but this time, Heins was sure Valefor grinned. “What is the Source?”

“The Source is the well from which all springs. She is from Beyond, from a place Outside, from a time Before.”

“She?” This all but confirmed Heins’s suspicions. The young girl who had brought him together with Elsa and the others was the Source. “Hans is tapping into her power. How do we beat him?”

“You are not making a good case for worthiness, Heins, Son of Aleksander,” Valefor growled, and Heins could hear anger and malice in his voice. “You already know this answer.”

“I do?” Heins asked, surprised. He frowned. Did he? “You mean by uniting the four?”

“No, though that is one step.”

“What do you mean?” There was no answer. Valefor’s eyes were boring into his with fearsome intensity, and Heins broke his gaze. He couldn’t think while looking into those gleaming golden eyes.

Heins paced back and forth, running through everything he knew, while Valefor watched silently, appraisingly. “Hans has magic,” he muttered to himself. “He got it at some point between Elsa’s kidnapping and the Empire’s appearance. What changed? He found the Source, obviously. But how did he make it do what he wanted? Threats? No, if it’s as powerful as Valefor says, that probably wouldn’t work. Then how?” He cast his mind around. What could he do to harness power like that? In a flash, he realized he had done it before. He had used Elsa’s power as a weapon against her family, by making her  _ think _ she was  _ protecting  _ her family. “The Dreamwalker!” Heins exclaimed, snapping his fingers. He looked up at Valefor, hoping for confirmation, but the beast was unreadable and did not speak. Heins returned back to his pacing.

“Okay, so let’s assume he found the Source, had the Dreamwalker trick it into giving him powers- commanding Valefor to help Harold… He must have only done that part after Titan, he didn’t know the Spirits could give people power before that, that’s how we got Ifrit and Titan… alright, so how do we beat the Dreamwalker?” He strained to remember. They had not seen hide nor hair of the Dreamwalker for years, and so had not considered him as an active threat for a long time. But they had a plan, back before the Fall. What was it?

“Martha,” Heins breathed. That was right, they had hoped to use Martha’s power-stealing abilities to neutralize the Dreamwalker. But where was Martha? Had she been killed during the Fall?

“Very good,” boomed Valefor. “Martha, Daughter of Karina, still lives, within Arendelle. The rest, I leave to you. Heins, Son of Aleksander, I will aid you.” Then everything went dark.


	74. Crimes of the Empire: Anna - Broken Promise

Anna didn’t  _ mean _ to break her promise. She really didn’t, honestly. But when she heard the sound of so much screaming, so much pain, so much death, she knew she didn’t stand a chance. Her ankle could not support much weight, but she could hobble. One arm was pretty useless, but she had another that worked fine. Good enough.

It took a long time to make it up Kristoff’s staircase to the castle. She leaned on the wall for balance, hopping from one step to the other, one at a time. The jostling impacts sent shockwaves of pain from her injuries with every step, but she kept going. She had to. She’d never forgive herself if one of her family died and she wasn’t there. When she finally reached the small closet, the sounds of combat had all but ceased, the fighters having by then spilled out over the grounds and into the city in outright civil war. She limped out into the hallway, listening hard. She could hear something, but she wasn’t sure what. It sounded like a high wind, but a quick glance outside at the still trees told her that it wasn’t natural. She followed the noise through the castle, trying not to look too closely at the grim remnants of the fight- hacked apart bodies, smashed skulls, missing eyes, and other horrors. The wind sound was getting louder and louder. She turned a corner, and there, halfway down the corridor, was her family, Kristoff, Elsa, and Heins, all fighting…  _ the flying man! _ No one seemed to notice her, so she pressed herself as close to the shadows as she could, hobbling closer.

Kristoff created a sort of shield out of the wall that the three of them now huddled behind. As Anna watched, Heins ran out, but was picked up and smashed against a wall by the magician. “No,” Anna moaned. She moved faster, ignoring the unsettling grinding feeling from her ankle and the stabbing agony radiating from it. Elsa hadn’t let the opportunity slip, and the next burst of ice knocked the magician from the air. “Yes!” Anna hissed. Elsa and Kristoff both rushed forward, but then stumbled to their knees. At first, Anna couldn’t tell what was wrong, but as they thrashed about, she realized- they couldn’t breathe. The magician was saying something, now. Anna was still thirty feet away from him. Farther than she usually liked to work her powers.  _ Doesn’t matter, now or never! _ She drew back her arm and threw. It was a good throw. The ball of flame exploded in the magician’s face. She followed it up with more, as quickly as she could, and as he reeled, Kristoff and Elsa both rolled over, hacking and coughing, trying to catch their breath. She kept up the fire as the two of them got to their feet and advanced, as Kristoff collapsed his exits, as Elsa bound his feet.

“Mercy!” she heard him call, and hesitated, a new ball of fire in her hand. Elsa had approached and was speaking to the magician, who Anna now recognized as Harold, but Anna was too far away to hear their conversation. She let the flames flicker away just as Elsa beheaded him with a single stroke, and she blinked in surprise. Anna would not shed a tear for Harold, but it was still surprising, Elsa usually had more restraint- but then, he had just hurt Heins- Heins!

“Heins!” Anna called, hobbling over to him. Elsa and Kristoff turned at her voice and dashed towards her. They all got to Heins’s side at the same time.

“Heins, get up, we gotta go,” Elsa said. Heins didn’t move. Elsa frowned. “He was getting up a second ago,” she muttered, dropping down beside him. “Heins!” No response. Elsa pressed her fingers to Heins’s neck, as Kristoff sidled up beside Anna and slipped under her arm, taking the weight off Anna’s ankle. “There’s a pulse,” Elsa announced. She looked up. “We don’t have time for this.” Another burst of fire and screams erupted from the courtyard as more of the quicklime weapons were thrown from the Watchtowers. 

“Take Anna, I’ll get Heins,” Kristoff said.

“What about Ciri?”

“Wait, what?” Anna asked. “ _ Ciri? _ Like,  _ our  _ Ciri?”

“Later,” Elsa said, waving Anna’s question aside. “Kristoff, can you carry Ciri and Heins?”

“Not with Ciri like that.”

“What is Ciri like? Why does she need to be carried? What is going on?”

“Later, Anna,” Kristoff said. Anna frowned, frustrated at being dismissed twice. “Elsa, you get Ciri. I’ll get Heins. Anna, go with Elsa. Maybe she won’t be afraid of you.”

“Why would Ciri be afraid of me?” Anna demanded.

“Tell you on the way, come on,” Elsa said. She took Kristoff’s place under Anna’s arm, and Kristoff picked Heins up in a fireman’s carry. 

“Meet you in the cave,” Kristoff said, and set off down the hallway, carefully avoiding the debris scattered across the floor, while Elsa and Anna went the other way.

“Will you please tell me what the hell is going on?”

“You were supposed to stay in the cave,” Elsa scolded.

“Yeah, and if I would have, what would have happened?” Anna responded defiantly.

“That’s not the point,” Elsa shot back, but Anna could hear her heart wasn’t in it.  _ She’s just worried about you. _

“I know,” Anna sighed, wincing as a little too much weight came down on her ankle, and Elsa adjusted her position to help. “I’m sorry.” They came to a spiral staircase, and Elsa went down first, her sword at the ready, Anna holding on to her shoulder with her good arm for balance. “When I heard so much fighting, I… I couldn’t stand it. I know you wanted me to stay in the cave because you were worried about me, but please understand that I didn’t because I was worried about  _ you _ . I can’t lose you either, Elsa.” They got to the bottom of the stairs, and Anna could see they had entered the dungeons. Most of the cell doors lay on the floor in twisted piles of metal, courtesy of Kristoff by the looks of the door frames, but one of the cells was now closed in by ice rather than metal. Elsa paused and turned to face Anna.

“I understand, Anna. We can talk about this more later.”

“Is Ciri in that one?” Anna asked, nodding towards the icy cell. Elsa nodded. “Why’d you lock her in like that?”

Elsa’s expression grew distraught. “They did something to her. Tortured her. Missing fingernails, at least, but… more than that, she’s… not right. I was afraid she’d try to run away if I didn’t lock her in. When she saw me, Kristoff, and Heins, she acted like she thought we would try to hurt her, or worse.”

Anna suppressed a shudder. “I get why you killed Harold like that now.” Her sister nodded grimly. “Do you want me to try to talk to her?”

“It’s worth a shot. She may not fear you- but I expect that she will. I’ll wait over here.”

Elsa’s suspicions were well founded. No sooner had Anna limped into view did Ciri throw herself into the corner, terrified and trembling. “Ciri, it’s me- Anna,” Anna crooned through the icy bars, as soothingly as she could.

“I haven’t left! I’m a good girl! Don’t hurt me!” Ciri cried. Her voice was hoarse and shaking with fear. Rage and horror were building in Anna’s heart.  _ What happened to you, Ciri... _

“I’m not going to hurt you, Ciri.”

“You’re lying! Trying to trick me! It won’t work, I’m a good girl! I’m good, I promise! Just don’t hurt me, please!”

“I’m not lying. I’m Princess Anna of Arendelle. You’re Ciri, real name Cirilla, daughter of the Assassin Nell. You saved my life by opening your home to my sister and me. You’ve traveled with us for months. It’s me, Ciri.”

“Stop it!” Ciri screamed. “You’re lying!”

Anna looked over at Elsa, who was fighting back tears. Anna gestured to the bars, and Elsa melted them with a flick of her wrist.

“Ciri, don’t you want to get out of here? Don’t you want to come with Elsa and me?”

“No! I’m a good girl! I’m staying! I’m being good, see?! Don’t hurt me!”

“We’re not going to hurt you, Ciri,” Anna murmured, trying to be as non-aggressive as she could possibly be. Her hands were held out in a placating gesture, and her tone was soft. “Why don’t you want to leave?”

“Because I’m good! I’m staying in my cell, like I should!”

“Anna,” Elsa said. Anna looked at her, and she indicated her ear. Anna listened hard, and could hear the sounds of renewed combat, getting closer. The fight was spreading further.

“Shit,” Anna muttered to herself. “I’m sorry, Elsa. But we have to go.”

“Sorry for what?”

Anna turned back to Ciri. “You’re right, Ciri. You are being a good girl. Good girls do what they’re told, don’t they?”

“Yes, I’m a good girl!”

“Well, now I’m telling you to come with me.”

Ciri frowned, and Anna’s heart broke again. She could see Ciri struggling to grasp this concept, and wondered again what they could have done to her. To break someone this completely in only a few days...

“If I leave… they’ll hurt me again,” Ciri moaned.

Anna steeled herself, hobbling one pace into the cell and looking at Ciri with as much malice as she could muster. “If you don’t do what I say,  _ I’ll  _ hurt you  _ now _ .” Ciri reeled back in fright, trying to process this new development, and Anna’s heart broke.

“Anna!” Elsa hissed.

“Shut up, Elsa,” Anna shot back, turning away from Ciri and lowering her voice to a whisper. “You think either of us can overpower her right now? Without hurting her, or her hurting us? Look at me, and your leg is all screwed up. Shut up and trust me.” She turned back to Ciri, who was pulling at her hair, beside herself with fear and confusion.

“Come on, Ciri. Be a good girl. Don’t make me hurt you. Come with us.”

“But-”

“Ciri. You don’t want to be a bad girl, do you?”

“No!” Ciri cried, shaking her head fervently, her eye full of single-minded zealotry for whatever lessons these bastards had impressed upon her. “I’m good!”

“Then let’s go.” She held out her hand. Ciri looked at it warily, her expression full of confusion, fear, and apprehension. “Ciri.”

“I’m a good girl,” Ciri murmured, on the verge of tears.

“That’s right. Now come on.”

With trembling, hesitant motions, Ciri reached out. Her hand was shaking so violently that she almost missed Anna’s, but she did take it. “Good girl, Ciri. Let’s go.” She braced herself on her good leg and tried to help Ciri stand, but as Ciri came upright, she gasped in pain and fell back down, pulling Anna off balance. Her broken ankle collapsed, and Anna fell hard to the ground, crying out in pain as her ankle and arm flared with agony. 

“Anna!” Elsa cried, limping into the cell to check on her.

“I’m sorry!” Ciri wailed, pulling her hair again, crawling back into the corner, huddling down with her hands over her head. “I didn’t mean to, I didn’t mean to be bad, please don’t hurt me, I didn’t mean it, I’m sorry!”

“It’s okay, Ciri, you’re not a bad girl,” Anna grunted through gritted teeth. She looked up at Elsa. “Why’d she fall?” she whispered. Elsa looked over, then gasped, clapping a hand to her mouth.

“Her feet…” 

Anna turned onto her side to look at Ciri. The bottoms of her feet had swollen red welts on them. “Fucking degenerates,” Anna swore. “Help me up, then help her. It’s gonna hurt, but you’ll have to help her walk. She needs it more than I do.”

Elsa nodded, then Anna grunted in pain as her sister pulled her up. Elsa hesitantly offered her hand to Ciri. “Take it, Ciri,” Anna said. “You can still be a good girl, take her hand.” Ciri did, still shaking like a leaf. This time, though the pain was etched deep into Ciri’s face, she seemed more prepared for it. Her jaw clenched, but she was able to stand. Anna hobbled out first, hopping every step so she didn’t put weight on her ankle, and Elsa went to follow, but then Ciri paused at the edge of the cell. Anna and Elsa both looked back. Ciri looked more distraught than ever.

“I don’t want to leave… I don’t want to be bad…” She looked at them, her one open eye terrified and bloodshot. “I’m a good girl.”

“We know, Ciri,” Anna said. “You’ll still be good if you come with us.”

Ciri took a shuddering breath, then stepped forward, out of the cell, wincing on every step as her feet touched the ground. “Good girl,” Anna reassured her. She cocked her head to the side, listening. “I think the fight moved on. I don’t hear them anymore. Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anna having to threaten Ciri to get her to come hurts my soul.


	75. Crimes of the Empire: Elsa - Slippery Slope

It was a good thing Anna was with them. Elsa, focusing on leading Ciri and managing the balance between Ciri’s pain and her own, which was increasing with every step as her adrenaline died down, would not have been able to navigate the sporadic combat in the halls half as well without Anna. Anna wasn’t in great shape herself, but that was one of the nicer things about magic. It took very little physical motion to burn someone, as Anna twice did on the way to Kristoff’s staircase. Elsa was aware of little besides the pain in her knee and the feel of Ciri’s hand in hers. She was tired, so, so tired. Executing Harold like that, in cold blood, along with the joy she felt snuffing out the lives of those guards, troubled Elsa deeply.

She was no stranger to death at this point. Her hands were soaked in blood. She had seen dozens, if not hundreds, of men die at her hands, either through magic, or more directly through steel. But in all those kills, all that death, she had never  _ enjoyed  _ the experience of killing- not until now. Not like she had enjoyed this death. It was borderline euphoric. Was this what she had become? Someone who enjoys taking life?  _ No _ .  _ It was because of Ciri. Anyone would have lost it _ . But that line of reasoning wasn’t very comforting. Just because others were capable of being monsters did not mean she was not one.

Then there was Harold. Even as she relished in the slaughter of those men who’d hurt Ciri, she was still fighting against opponents who were trying to kill her. She’d never before executed someone who presented no present danger.  _ Keep it together, Elsa, he still had to die, what was the difference between killing him like that or killing him during the fight? _ Again, this thought was not as comforting as she wanted it to be. 

“Kristoff!” Anna cried, interrupting Elsa’s ruminations. She looked up to see Kristoff heading towards them, weaving around the scattered destruction in the hallway. “What are you doing?” Anna asked, sounding surprised. Elsa was too, Kristoff must have all but sprinted up the stairs from the cave to get back so soon. “Is Heins safe?”

“He’s fine,” Kristoff said, not even seeming winded from his mad dash. “Let me help you.” 

“Thank god, my leg is-” Anna said, but her sentence was cut short by Ciri’s feral scream. She lunged forward, Elsa feeling both Ciri’s hand leave hers and her sword leaving its scabbard. Ciri ran Kristoff through the chest with Elsa’s blade, the bloody point sticking out from his back like a gruesome obelisk, before Ciri yanked it out, drawing back her arm for another blow.

“KRISTOFF!” Anna screamed, as Elsa leapt forward, seizing Ciri around the middle and heaving her away, throwing her to the ground. She lost her grip on the sword and it clattered away across the floor, smearing the stones with Kristoff’s blood. Anna fell forward, trying to catch Kristoff before he hit the ground, but her ankle betrayed her. She collapsed alongside him, her good hand scrabbling at his chest, trying to stem the blood pouring from it as Kristoff hacked up crimson, turning paler by the second. Elsa pounced on Ciri, holding her down as she screamed and struggled, straining with all her might to break Elsa’s grip. 

“Kristoff,” Anna cried, blood staining the pale skin on her hand as it gushed out of Kristoff’s wound. “Stay with me, don’t leave me, Kristoff, please, I love you, please, Kristoff, stay with me!”

“Ciri, what have you done?” Elsa screamed, as Ciri redoubled her efforts, straining against Elsa like a rabid wolf. There was no reason in her eyes.

“Kristoff- no, Kristoff- KRISTOFF- wait, WHAT?” The sheer surprise in Anna’s voice, replacing the grief and shock in the space of a single word, made Elsa look back.

“What the hell?”

Where Kristoff had just been, now there lay a bald man with a goatee, his eyes open and unmoving. Anna stared down at him, her hands half raised at her sides, her mouth open in a near perfect ‘O’. Ciri lifted her head, caught a glimpse of the dead man, and then stopped fighting. Her screams of animalistic fury were replaced with shrieks of maniacal laughter. 

“What in the world is going on?” Elsa and Anna’s heads whipped around to see another Kristoff, breathing hard, leaning against the wall, this one looking much sweatier, much redder-faced, and much, much more confused.

“Kristoff? What the- What’s your sister’s name?” Anna demanded.

“This again?” Kristoff sighed, sounding exasperated. “Lilly.”

“Not good enough,” Elsa said quickly, loosening, but not relinquishing, her grip on Ciri now that the girl was no longer fighting, but still straddling her to keep her from doing anything else unexpected. “Kristoff- what did your mom say happens when we die?”

“What the hell is going on?” Kristoff asked, looking lost.

“ _ ANSWER THE QUESTION! _ ” Elsa shouted, preparing a blast of magic as snow swirled around her right hand.

“That we go to paradise!” Kristoff shot back, stepping back and raising his hands in surrender. “Halls for feasting, game for hunting, sun for shining, all that shit! What the HELL is going on?” 

“We have no idea!” Anna wailed, flopping back onto her butt, looking befuddled, while Ciri’s manic laughter continued. “Ciri went berserk and killed you- I mean, killed him, but he was you- or he looked like you-”

“It doesn’t matter right now,” Elsa cut across. “Where’s Heins?” 

“He’s awake, he’s in the cave, waiting for us-”

“Good, come get Ciri, keep hold of her, support her weight, her feet are injured, I’ll get Anna-” Elsa said all of this very quickly. She desperately wanted to get out of the castle and try to gather her thoughts. Her mind felt locked in a tailspin that she could not pull out of, no matter how she tried.

Kristoff rushed over, but Anna seized his hand as he passed, pulling him to a stop. He bent down, and she put a hand on his face. “Kristoff?” she whispered.

“It’s me, Anna,” he said softly. 

“That’s twice now I thought I lost you.”

“Hey, only one of those was my fault,” he said, looking a little defensive.

“Yeah, but-”

“Oh my god, can we do this later?” Elsa asked impatiently. Ciri had stopped laughing, but the empty look in her eyes now was even more unsettling.

“Sorry, Els,” Kristoff said, hurrying over. Elsa got off of Ciri, who did not seem to even notice. “Ciri?” he asked. No answer, but her eye inched over to focus on Kristoff. “We’re going to get you out of here now, okay?” Still no reply. Kristoff sighed sadly, then picked up Ciri in a bridal carry. She didn’t fight him, she just went along with it, her eyes open but not seeing. It was as though she was sleepwalking. “I’ve gotcha, Ciri. I’ve gotcha. You don’t have to worry.” With that, he trudged away. Elsa stood up and limped over to Anna.

“I’m going to sleep for a week after this,” Anna grumbled, holding up her hand, which Elsa used to lever her up, then she pulled it over her shoulders to support Anna’s weight. They looked down at the man. “God damn magicians.”

“How the hell did Ciri know?” Elsa wondered.

“No idea. I’m glad she did.”

“Me too. Come on.” With that, they limped off towards the closet which housed Kristoff’s staircase.

“Owowowowow,” Anna moaned.

“Stop whining,” Elsa gasped. Sweat poured down her face, and her chest felt like an elephant was lounging on it. “I’m the one carrying you down all these damn stairs.”

“You could be gentler! And besides, you’re not  _ carrying _ me, I’m still helping!”

“Not by much,” Elsa grunted, making it down a few more steps. “You want to do this on your own?” 

“No, I want you to not be stupid and move when I say to!”

“ _ I’m _ being stupid?” Elsa hissed, her temper flaring. “I will turn these stairs into a goddamn slide and send you on your fucking way if you’d rather have that!”

“Stop!” Anna cried. “Just stop,” she repeated, much more quietly. “Let’s sit down a moment.”

“Fine by me,” Elsa said. She helped Anna sit down, then swung around and sat down heavily next to her, leaning forward and resting her face in her hands.

After a minute’s silence, Anna muttered, “I didn’t mean to be a bitch.”

“You weren’t, Anna,” Elsa sighed. “I was. I’m sorry.”

“We both were,” Anna compromised with a small chuckle.

Elsa felt a grin tug at the corner of her mouth. “That’s fair.” She took in a deep breath, in…. And out…. And in….. And out….

Elsa felt a hand begin to run up and down her back. It felt nice. “Tell me what’s on your mind, sis,” Anna said.

“You know damn well what’s on my mind.”

“Yeah. But it might help to say it.”

“... What did they do to her?”

“I don’t know, Elsa. But she’s alive. Isn’t that all that matters?”

“I suppose… but what if she doesn’t get better? What if that’s just how she is now- terrified of everything? What kind of a life is that?” 

“What if, what if, what if,” Anna repeated, gently squeezing Elsa’s shoulder before returning to rubbing her back. Elsa could feel some of her worries diminishing with her sister’s loving touch. “You’re chasing your tail, Elsa. We can sit here going in circles forever, worrying about what might be. But that won’t help you, and it won’t help Ciri. And Ciri’s going to need your help.”

Elsa let out a long sigh. “You’re right. It’s just hard not to worry. And… there’s something else.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“When… when I killed Harold… it wasn’t like the other times I… I’ve never enjoyed it. But I’ve taken lives because I felt like it was the right thing to do. The lesser evil. Like it was either that or someone else would die. But Harold…”

“He tried to kill all three of you, Elsa, and he hurt Ciri. It’s only natural that you’d-”

“You don’t understand.”

“What don’t I understand?”

“I…” Elsa swallowed past the swelling lump in her throat. “I made him beg for mercy. And then I killed him anyway.” Anna’s hand paused in its motion up Elsa’s back. Elsa turned to see Anna looking troubled. Elsa let out a sardonic chuckle. “Not much better than him, am I?”

“Don’t say that,” Anna said firmly, her hand resuming its movement over Elsa’s back. “I was just surprised is all.”

“Do you think… Never mind.”

“Do I think it makes you a bad person? Evil? A monster?” Elsa nodded. “No. I won’t insult your intelligence by saying it wasn’t a bad thing to do. But if you think doing that to one of the most reprehensible pieces of shit ever to walk the earth makes you a bad person, you are dead wrong.”

“But what makes me better than them, if I do that? Even before that, fighting the guards- I  _ enjoyed  _ the feel of them dying. What kind of person  _ enjoys  _ killing? What does that say about me?”

Anna took a moment to answer. “Elsa… I’m going to tell you something Kristoff once helped me learn. I don’t think you enjoyed  _ killing _ , exactly. No more than you ever have, which is to say, not at all. You were killing people who hurt someone you love beyond words, so that they can never hurt anyone else ever again.  _ That’s  _ what you enjoyed. It’s not like you woke up this morning and decided, ‘welp, can’t wait to kill some innocents, maybe kick a puppy or two afterwards’.”

Elsa snorted in spite of herself. Anna gave her a small nudge. “I don’t know if this will make you feel better or worse, but… I probably wouldn’t have done what you did, if Harold had hurt you or something-”

“How would that possibly make me feel better?”

“You didn’t let me finish. I would have done worse.” Elsa blinked and looked at Anna. Her face was set and grim. “If you ask me… given what he did to Ciri, what he did to his own family, what he’s done to the people… he got off easy. I don’t think I’d have been able to keep my anger in check, staring him in the face like you did. I think I would have… hmm, shall we say, relapsed? Don’t get me wrong- we do need to be careful, not to fall too far down. But-”

“You don’t think this was me, falling?”

“No. Not in any real or significant way, or rather, a way that suggests you’ll  _ keep _ falling. Maybe that’s the best way to put it. It is a slippery slope, but you slid a few feet and got another good foothold. Like I said, it’s not like he was innocent. You did the right thing. There’s nothing wrong with feeling good about killing a monster. Especially one who hurt someone you love.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Elsa looked away and wiped her eyes. “Maybe you’re right.”

“I usually am.” 

Elsa snorted again. “Uh huh. Ready to keep going?”

“Are you going to be gentle this time?”

“Maybe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it bad that I kind of enjoy writing Elsa and Anna being assholes to one another? I have them apologize right after, but I think those little exchanges are fun to write. Makes them feel more real to me.


	76. Crimes of the Empire: Anna - Assessing the Damage

The two of them hobbled into the cave a little while later. Kristoff and Heins stood near the entrance, looking out at the approaching ship. Ciri sat against the wall, curled up with her arms wrapped around her legs and her face buried between them. The two men turned around when they heard Elsa and Anna reach the bottom of the stairs.

“Hey,” Heins said, rubbing the back of his head. “Kristoff said you saved us, Anna. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Heins," Anna said with a smile as Kristoff came over to relieve her sister of Anna's burden. As soon as he did, Elsa went and lowered herself down in front of Ciri, stretching her leg out to avoid bending her knee too much. Turning back to Heins, Anna asked, "How are you feeling?” 

"Fine, I think. Head hurts."

"Not surprising," Kristoff said. "You hit that wall so hard I thought you were dead."

"Has Ciri said anything yet?"

"No," Heins said, looking over at the young woman with heartbreak in his eyes. Elsa was saying something to her, but Ciri either couldn't or wouldn't hear, nor had she raised her head. "My dear departed brother wouldn't have given a hint as to what they did to her, did he?"

"You'd have to ask Elsa that, I'm afraid," said Anna, as Kristoff helped her sit down against the cliff wall. "I didn't even realize it was Harold until after his head hit the ground."

"Elsa  _ beheaded _ him? Kristoff, you didn’t mention that..."

_ Oh, shit. _ Anna shot a glance at her sister, who had frozen in place next to Ciri, but before either she or Elsa could say anything more, Heins's laughter split the air. 

"Well done, honey," he chuckled. "Serves him right for what he's done." Anna could see Elsa’s shoulders relax at these words, and Anna knew she had been most worried about what Heins would think of her executing his brother like that. Granted, he didn’t yet know about Elsa’s choice of words beforehand, but they could cross that bridge later, if Elsa ever saw fit to tell him anyway. Anna never would- not her place.

“So what’s next?” Anna asked. “We need to move before the Empire can get a lid on this rebellion.”

“I agree,” Kristoff said. “We still need to find the Air Temple, though. Hopefully, Harold really did have the Spirit, and killing him-”

“It was Harold,” Heins cut across. He looked like he had just seen a ghost.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s starting to come back… I had a dream, or something.”

Anna gasped. “You talked to Valefor, didn’t you?” Elsa had turned away from Ciri at this point, though she still sat next to her. Ciri looked as vacant as ever.

“I think so…”

“Did you get his power?”

“I don’t know. I think so? He said… he said he wanted to help, but that I had to-”

“Storytime’s gonna have to wait, boys and girls,” Kristoff said, pointing out at the ship, which had just lit four lanterns on its side. “Time to go. Elsa, can you-” Before Kristoff could even finish the sentence, a small rowboat bobbed in the midnight surf.

“Come on Ciri,” Elsa murmured. Ciri’s head shook, the first motion she had taken since Anna entered the cave. Elsa looked up at the others, her eyes red and distraught. 

“Ciri,” Anna murmured, Kristoff helping her limp forward. “It’s us. There’s nothing to be afraid of anymore.”

“You’re out of there,” Heins added. “They can’t hurt you now.”

Ciri’s eye peeked out of the gap between her arms. It was wide, full of fear and apprehension, but also a tiny hint of doubt. 

“Hey, kiddo,” Kristoff said. “We came for you. Harold’s gone. You’re safe.”

“Is it really you guys?” she whispered. Her voice was hoarse, barely audible over the lapping waves. “Is this really real?”

“It’s us, Ciri,” Elsa whispered back. “It’s really us.”

Slowly, very slowly, Ciri loosened her grip around her own legs, and stretched a hand out towards Elsa. Anna's stomach turned again at the sight of the girl’s missing fingernails, and she had to suppress a shudder as she imagined what that must have felt like. Elsa took Ciri’s hand with as much care as one might pick up a flower. Ciri gasped and recoiled at the touch, pulling her hand back. Her eyebrows furrowed. “It’s cold…” Ciri fell silent, looking at her fingers as though examining something clinging to them.

Kristoff was the first to break the silence with a soft throat clear. “Sorry,” he mumbled, at Anna’s reproachful look. “We need to go, guys. Ship’s waiting.”

“We’re getting out of here,” Elsa said. “Can you move?” she asked Ciri, who only nodded.

Elsa stood up, wincing when she straightened her leg, and then Ciri, and Anna’s heart broke all over again. Before, she stood straight, proud, and very much like Elsa. Now, she was hunched over, her shoulders raised as though she were trying to withdraw into a shell, and her arms were crossed around her middle. Her eye darted back and forth, as though convinced some new threat would leap out at any second, then dropped her gaze. Elsa made to move closer, perhaps to help guide her, but Ciri shrunk away. Her head hung low and her eyes were fixed downwards. Her face, though obscured by bruises, was harder than it had been, and her eyes had a sense of emptiness rather than the energy and cheer they used to have. Another surge of hatred for Harold coursed through Anna, and she understood even more why Elsa had done what she did. 

Heins also took a step towards Ciri, presumably to help take the weight off her feet, but she recoiled from him too, and Elsa flung out her arm, pushing Heins away. “Back up,” she warned, as Ciri whimpered, shrinking away, hunkering down in her shell still further. Hurt flashed across Heins’s face, but Anna knew better than to think it was for himself. Heins stepped back at once, holding up his hands to try to show he meant no harm. “It’s okay,” Elsa reassured Ciri in a soothing tone. “All of you, stay back, no one touches Ciri until she’s ready, understand?”

“Of course, Els,” Kristoff said, taking a respectful step back despite the fact he was already some distance away. Elsa shuffled away, guiding Ciri with cautious gestures. Anna and the others followed at a safe distance. Elsa climbed in the small boat, then huddled down in the front with Ciri, who drew her legs up and wrapped her arms around them, hiding her face.

“They have to get in the boat, okay Ciri?” she said softly. Ciri gave a tiny nod. Anna could see from here the shake of her shoulders as Elsa fought the urge to put her arms around her.

“Poor thing is quivering,” Anna whispered to Kristoff. “She’s so terrified of us right now.”

“And letting us in the boat regardless,” he muttered back. “Just like the arch in the cave. The girl has some serious courage. Maybe even braver than you.” Anna elbowed him. “Okay, it’s a tie,” he added quickly. Anna smirked, but then had a thought. She stopped Heins just before he got in the boat, closest to the front except Elsa and Ciri.

“Sit in the back,” she murmured. “You look too much like Harold.” Heins’s face fell, but Anna put an encouraging hand on his shoulder. “It’ll pass, Heins.” 

“Yeah,” Kristoff agreed. “But right now, she’s still not in her right mind. Best to tread lightly.”

“I know,” he sighed. He looked for a moment like he was going to say something, but he closed his mouth again and climbed in the boat near the back. Kristoff helped Anna get in, then sat down in the middle. He wrapped his sleeves over his hands and took the icy oars, rowing them all out to sea. Anna stared up at the castle as they went. The cave had sheltered them from most of the sights and sounds of battle, but now, she could see it was still raging in full force. One of the Watchtowers was now little more than a towering inferno, and flashes of intense light burst out every thirty seconds or so as more of the quicklime exploded. She could not see the city, but the pillars of smoke told her all she needed to know.

_ I wonder how things are back on the mainland. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ciri's strong, guys.


	77. Crimes of the Empire: Elsa - All Is Found

By the time the sun rose, they were well on their way back to the mainland. After a quick stop to drop off the three men who had brought them the ship, they set sail into the open sea. They knew that they had to get as far as they could before the Empire’s Navy could be mustered. Heins and Kristoff were both pulling double duty, as Anna’s injuries were still too severe to allow her to be of much help, and no one had even suggested Elsa help out. Though Ciri was still not letting anyone touch her, she would start to hyperventilate when Elsa moved away, so there she stayed. Ciri hadn’t stopped trembling, her knees up at her chest, resting her chin on them and half-hiding her face with her arms, eyes turned towards the ground, and aside from once back in the cave, had not made eye contact with anyone, including Elsa, nor had she spoken again. Anna sat nearby, but not too close.

When the sun finally came up, throwing Ciri’s injuries into even sharper relief, Elsa’s stomach turned over. Her face was a mottled patchwork of bruises, scrapes, and cuts. Her eye was still swollen shut, there was dried blood under her nose, which looked like it had been broken, and her bottom lip had been busted open. Her open eye was bloodshot and tired, it looked like she hadn’t slept in days. A half-healed cut stretched from her right temple, down her jaw, ending just below her ear. She was missing seven fingernails, four on her right hand, three on her left, and three toenails on her right foot. The bottoms of her feet had ropey welts along them that reminded Elsa very much of the scars that criss crossed her back. 

Elsa had no idea what to say to try to comfort Ciri, and so simply sat with her, in the very back of the boat. A memory floated up in Elsa’s mind as she watched the sun rise. A memory of her mother, on the last time she touched Elsa without Elsa retreating in fear.

“ _ Where the North Wind… meets the sea… _ ” Ciri tensed at the sound, and at first, Elsa thought she had made a mistake, but then Ciri’s body relaxed again, and Elsa continued. 

“ _ There’s a river, full of memory _ .

_ Sleep, my darling, safe and sound, _

_ For in this river all is found.” _

Elsa took a deep breath. She became aware that Ciri was not the only one listening, though both men were pretending not to.

“ _ In her waters, deep and true, _

_ Lie the answers, and a path for you. _

_ Dive down deep into her sound, _

_ But not too far or you’ll be drowned. _ ”

Elsa and Anna’s eyes met, and by unspoken agreement, they began singing together, their voices mixing and becoming much more than the sum of their parts. Slowly, Ciri leaned over and rested her head on Elsa’s shoulder.

“ _ Yes, she will sing to those who’ll hear, _

_ And in her song all magic flows. _

_ But can you brave what you most fear, _

_ Can you face what the river knows?” _

Heins and Kristoff had given up pretending to keep working and stood silently, listening. 

“ _ Where the north wind meets the sea, _

_ There's a mother full of memory. _

_ Come, my darling, homeward bound, _

_ When all is lost, then all is found. _ ”

The sisters held the last note, allowing it to linger in the air, and then let it fade. It was as though even the water had fallen respectfully silent, the sound of the waves only seeming to return when the song had finished. Ciri had stopped trembling, and for a moment, Elsa thought she might say something, but then a soft snore escaped her lips. Elsa smiled and put her arm around Ciri as Kristoff came closer.

“That was beautiful, you two,” he said quietly, so as not to disturb Ciri, and Elsa smiled at him. “Sorry I forgot to give this to you earlier, but…” He pulled something small and sparkling out of his pocket, and Elsa gasped. It was the ice rose she’d given Ciri so long ago. She took it from Kristoff, hardly able to believe she was holding it. She’d thought it lost for sure, either in the sea somewhere, or taken by someone in the Southern Isles. It had a crack on one petal, but was otherwise whole.

“Where did you find this?” she breathed.

“After I dropped Heins off, I checked Harold’s office before I bumped into you guys. Thought we still needed info on the Air Temple at that point. Didn’t find anything useful, but… this was in there, with...” He broke off, looking both uncomfortable and infuriated. “With… fingernails.”

Elsa and Anna exchanged a startled look. “He kept her  _ fingernails? _ ” Anna hissed, looking disgusted. Almost all the lingering guilt and doubt about what Elsa had done to Harold vanished in an instant as Kristoff nodded.

“Thank you, Kristoff,” Elsa said, slipping the rose into her breast pocket. He nodded and returned to his duties helping Heins. Elsa closed her eyes and leaned her head up against the hull of the ship, trying to get the rage to subside. What kind of sick bastard would keep a young girl’s fingernails as a trophy?

Elsa didn’t remember falling asleep, but she must have, because she was quite sure that they had not gained the ability to teleport, and land was a hell of a lot closer now than she remembered. Ciri was still next to her, though not laying on her shoulder anymore, or even touching her at all. Instead, she was sitting up against the hull of the ship, and though she was hanging her head, she looked over when Elsa stirred. She didn’t say anything, and quickly returned to staring at the wooden floor in front of her, as though she would be scolded if Elsa caught her looking at her.

“Hey Ciri,” Elsa murmured. She could see now that while the others were aware of Ciri’s wakefulness, they seemed to still be giving her plenty of space, pointedly not looking over and staying busy with sailing the ship. When no answer was forthcoming, Elsa continued, “How are you feeling?” It was a stupid question, but Elsa wanted to get Ciri talking. It didn’t work. With a frightened whine, Ciri pulled her legs up to her chest and buried her face in her knees, wrapping her arms around herself. Elsa sighed. “It really is us, Ciri.”

“That’s what I thought last time.” Ciri’s voice, already so quiet, was muffled to the point that Elsa had to lean closer to hear over the sound of the water.

“What do you mean, last time?”

“Can’t trust me. I thought it was real then, what if they fixed it?” Ciri muttered, talking to herself, ignoring Elsa completely. “What if this is just another trick, and I’ve been bad, they’ll hurt me if I’m bad… they’ll hurt me if I’m bad, they’ll hurt me if I’m bad…”

“No one’s going to hurt you, Ciri,” Elsa soothed. “You’re safe, you’re with us, it’s Elsa, and Anna, and Heins, and Kristoff. No one will hurt you.” She put her hand on Ciri’s shoulder, but she squeaked in fright and shrank away from the touch, and Elsa’s assurances were disregarded by the terrified girl. She just kept repeating that same thing, over and over. Whatever small peace she had gained through Iduna’s song had abandoned her in sleep. Elsa was now completely certain that whatever they had done to Ciri, it had not been only physical. They had manipulated her mind, same as what the Dreamwalker did to Elsa. But was it the Dreamwalker? 

It was certainly possible. But it didn’t seem probable. For one, they still had no idea where the Dreamwalker was. It seemed unlikely that he was simply in the Southern Isle’s castle all along. For another, it wasn’t the way the Dreamwalker seemed to prefer to work. He was more subtle. He put people into situations where both the person and the Dreamwalker want the same thing, like when he got Elsa to inadvertently attack and almost kill Kristoff and Alan when they came to save her in the camp so many years ago, by making her think she was defending the castle and her sister. He also didn’t seem as able to create such lasting and intense trauma, though Elsa had to admit that was speculation- just because he hadn’t done so to her did not mean he couldn’t. Besides, she had been plenty traumatized after her experience at his hands, though it seemed clear that this was on a different level.

“What’s wrong with her?” Anna’s soft voice cut across Elsa’s thoughts, and she looked up. Ciri was still repeating that same phrase, and Anna was looking at her through eyes brimming with tears. “I thought she trusted you now.”

“I don’t know,” Elsa sighed. “I think she still thinks this is somehow a trick, like it’s not really us.” Elsa dug in her pocket, then pulled out the wooden heart Ciri had carved for her.

“You still have that?” Anna asked, sounding surprised. “I thought it went down with the Spirit.”

“I’ve had it with me since she gave it to me.” She ran her thumb over the snowflake, then turned it over.

**TO ELSA**

**LOVE, CIRI**

“Ciri,” Elsa murmured.

“-they’ll hurt me if I’m bad, they’ll hurt me if I’m bad, they’ll hurt me if I’m bad, they’ll-”

Elsa took Ciri’s wrist, ignoring the gasp of fright and when Ciri tried to pull away, then pressed the wooden heart into her palm. Ciri’s hand closed around it, and then Elsa let go. For a moment, Ciri just squeezed it, and then her thumb inched across its surface, feeling out what it was. She seemed to recognize it, then clamped her hand around it so tight that her knuckles went white. She did not lift her head, she did not look around, but her mantra had ceased. Elsa and Anna both waited with bated breath for her reaction. At last, Ciri mumbled something, but so quietly that Elsa couldn’t hear her.

“What was that?”

“Am I awake…”

Elsa frowned. “You are. Why do you think you might not be?” There was no answer. “Ciri.”

“Nightmare… just a nightmare...”

“Nightmare?” Elsa could see Anna wanted to say something, but warned her off with a glance. She nodded and closed her mouth.

“Dreams… nightmare...can’t trust me… a monster… spiders… Tom…”

“Tom? Who’s Tom?”

Ciri fell silent and still, and then burst out, “It’s a fucking  _ trick _ !” She moved before Elsa could react. Her arm swung out, the wooden heart striking Elsa across the jaw with surprising force. It knocked her head back, where it thudded off the wooden hull of the ship, dazing her, and then Ciri was moving like a flash, her blistered feet leaving bloody footprints in her wake as she tackled Anna sideways. Anna shrieked in pain and alarm as her upper body tipped over, and she landed on her broken arm. Behind them, Elsa could see Heins, turning from the wheel, but confusion was all she could see on his face. Ciri was scrabbling at Anna’s clothes, and for one wild moment, Elsa’s hazy brain thought she was trying to rip her shirt open, but then Ciri sat back up, a bare knife glinting in the sun.

“No!” Elsa cried, but Ciri didn’t stab down, instead she brought the blade to her own throat, drawing it across-

“CIRI, NO!” Kristoff bellowed, lunging forward, reaching his hand out as far as he could. He grabbed her wrist and yanked her hand, and the knife it held, away from her throat. Even through Elsa’s swimming vision, Elsa could see a thin line of red staining the edge. 

“NO! LET ME GO!” Ciri screamed. Anna scrambled back, her face contorted with pain, as Heins rushed past. Kristoff twisted her arm backwards, then kicked the knife out of Ciri’s hand. Now that she was disarmed, Kristoff overpowered her easily and got her on the ground, but then again, maybe not so easily. 

“NO NO NO! LET GO OF ME YOU BASTARD! LET GO!” Despite Kristoff’s size and strength, she fought with the ferocity of a cornered animal, and Elsa could see Kristoff’s reluctance to hurt her. Heins dropped to his knees next to them, and together, they managed to subdue Ciri, who was red faced, crying and screaming, bucking and fighting as hard as she could, while Anna watched in horror.

“Shit, why is she fighting so hard?” Kristoff gasped, trying to get a better grip on her, but she was squirming so much he was having trouble. He repositioned so that his knee was on one of her legs and pinned her arm to the deck with both hands, a position Heins adopted quickly after, finally restraining her as the ship bobbed through the waves.

Elsa pushed off the hull and heaved herself to her feet. Her vision was blurry and spinning, and she fell against the railing to keep from falling. She limped over to Ciri and dropped down near her head, so that she was looking at Ciri upside down. She bit back a sob at the thin red line on Ciri’s neck. If Kristoff had been a millisecond slower…

Elsa leaned over and put her hands on both sides of Ciri’s face, turning it to face her. Ciri thrashed around, still screaming, but Elsa kept at it. “Ciri, look into my eyes,” she said gently, but firmly. Ciri’s good eye darted from side to side, but then came to rest on Elsa’s. Her screams turned into strangled whimpers, and then she lay still, staring into Elsa’s eyes. “That’s right, just keep looking at me,” she murmured. She gestured for Heins and Kristoff to let go, which they did after a moment’s trepidation. Ciri stayed calm, her gaze still fixed on Elsa as though hypnotized.

“The nightmare is over, Ciri. They can’t hurt you anymore. You’re back with your family. With me. You’re safe. And they will never hurt you again.” Elsa bent down and planted a very soft kiss on Ciri’s forehead.

Ciri’s eye welled up with tears. “Is it really you?” she whispered, her voice even more scratchy than it had been. 

“It’s really me, Ciri.”

Ciri started to cry, at first, only a few hitching gasps, and then wracking sobs. Elsa scrambled around to Ciri’s side and swept her up in her arms, and this time, Ciri did not resist or pull away, but returned the embrace so tightly that Elsa’s ribs felt like they were being broken all over again, but she was past the point of caring. 

“I’m sorry!” Ciri wailed between gasps for breath and sobs so hard it sounded more like retching. “I’m so sorry!”

“Shh, Ciri, don’t be, you didn’t do anything wrong,” Elsa whispered in her ear. She opened her eyes to see Heins and Kristoff slowly backing away, Heins picking up the carved heart and slipping it into his pocket, Kristoff helping to situate Anna after Ciri’s tackle, and Ciri cried.

By the time Ciri’s breathing had even approached normalcy, it was time to ditch the ship. Now that the touch barrier had been breached, Ciri was refusing to let go of Elsa. Her grip was like she was afraid she’d blow away in the wind if she relinquished it, which Elsa wouldn’t mind if she didn’t need to work her magic. Still, she knew better than to say anything, and so got by with one arm (the other was pinned to her side by Ciri clinging to her) while she created another rowboat. Ciri was plainly still scared of the others, though, and so once back on shore, they decided to make camp at once, using the replacement gear helpfully left on the ship by Kristoff’s contacts. Kristoff, Heins, and Anna went off to try to see if Heins did in fact obtain Valefor’s power, while Ciri and Elsa sat together in the shade of a large oak tree near the beach. Elsa had her arms around Ciri, who was curled up in a ball, half laying on Elsa, her head on Elsa’s shoulder, trembling slightly, but otherwise seemed to be at peace.

They sat in silence for what must have been hours as the sun moved overhead. Elsa didn’t care. She had been so sure she had lost Ciri that having her back was a gift beyond measure, and the view stretching out over the sea wasn’t what she would call unpleasant to look at. Eventually, Ciri broke the silence.

“Is your jaw okay?”

Elsa loved Ciri all the more for that. All she’d clearly been through, and the first lucid thing she asks about is someone else’s well being. “I’m fine, Ciri. You’ve got a mean swing, though, nice one.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I know, sweetheart. It’s okay.” Silence reigned for a little while, and then Ciri spoke again.

“I thought you were all dead.”

“It was close,” Elsa admitted. “Heins saved us all. Got us into an air pocket in the Spirit. He looked for you too, but he couldn’t find you.”

“I didn’t stay nearby long, I knew I’d drown if I didn’t get to land.”

“Good girl,” Elsa said, giving her an affectionate squeeze, but Ciri winced at Elsa’s words.

“Don’t call me that,” Ciri begged, her voice shaking. “Just… don’t. Please.”

With a sinking realization, Elsa remembered what Ciri had said when they found her. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Ciri sighed. “Even then I almost died. I… I swam-”

“Ciri, you don’t have to-”

“I need to.”

“...Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's where we're leaving off for today. It's not an ideal spot, but I want Ciri's story to be one update and it's somewhere in the neighborhood of 15k words. I also want to say a few things here.
> 
> First, Ciri is NOT suicidal. She had a very different purpose for trying to do what she did, and she does explain herself in the next update.
> 
> Second, though what happens to Ciri is pretty fucking horrific, there is no sexual abuse or sexual violence whatsoever. I noticed on rereading these chapters that there are two spots where a sentence makes it seem like it MIGHT go that way, but the very next sentence in both spots make it clear that it is NOT, but even so, I wanted to say that here. It is not that sexual abuse should not be written about (anyone can write anything they so choose), but it's not something that I wanted to write here, for various reasons.
> 
> Lastly, remember that Harold is a very, very, very bad man. He is an absolute piece of shit who I honestly hate more than Hans. What happened to Ciri was for a very specific purpose- no matter what, the gang cannot simply allow the Empire to exist. Anything good in the world can and will be taken away by the Empire's continued existence. The next update is one of, if not the most, darkest part of the trilogy. Remember two things once Tuesday rolls around- Ciri is safe, and Ciri is strong.


	78. Crimes of the Empire: Ciri - Alone

Ciri was knocked off the ship by the first impact. She surfaced, just in time to see the second, third, and fourth, and the Spirit listed to port and began to take on water. She could now see what was doing it- a man, floating high above the waves, three boulders hovering around him. She saw his eyes lock onto hers, saw him raise his hand, and she dove, swimming away as fast as she could. The impact of the rock, right where she had just been, was deafening, but it missed. She stayed underwater as two more rocks slammed into the ocean’s surface. Her lungs screamed, but she stayed under. When she could take it no more, she sputtered to the surface, tensing for the terrible impact, but the man was gone.

“Elsa!” Ciri screamed, as loudly as she could. She could see nothing breaking the ocean’s surface but bodies and bits of debris- no Spirit, no elegant blonde waves of hair, nor the scraggly blonde mop of Kristoff, nor the two distinct shades of red of Anna or Heins. “ELSA! ANNA! KRISTOFF! HEINS!” There was no reply. No one came to the surface. Nothing. Panic flooded Ciri’s mind like a rabid beast. She forced herself to stay calm.  _ Come on, Ciri. Focus. You just don’t see them right now. They’ll be okay. Somehow _ . She knew she was lying to herself, but she repeated it over and over, and eventually, she almost believed it. Now that the sea had settled, she could see that there were some remains of the Spirit. Not much, but a few pieces big enough to support her. She swam to the closest, her entire body shaking of the cold as she heaved herself up onto it. With the higher vantage, she scanned the surface of the water desperately, for a hint of one of her family. Nothing. The panic beast swelled in her chest, and she forced it back down at once. She  _ HAD _ to stay calm.  _ DON’T THINK ABOUT THEM. THEY’RE FINE. WORRY ABOUT YOURSELF. _

She repeated this to herself now, over and over. She took stock of what she had. She had her clothes. She had Anna’s knife. She had a life raft, albeit a very cold one. She had to get to land. The shore was within sight. But it was far. Much farther than she had ever swam before. But the beast stirred again, raising its head and sniffing the air, hungry to feed on her fear, so she slipped off the raft and tread water next to it. She tested how easily it moved, trying to decide if it would be easier to swim with or without it. It was much harder to swim with it, but if she left it behind and got too exhausted, she’d drown. She decided to bring it.

She kicked and kicked and kicked, pushing the raft through the choppy water, focusing only on her breathing and the next kick, to keep herself occupied, so she wouldn’t think about- no, kick, breath, kick, breath, occasionally forgoing a few kicks to give her legs a rest as she coasted to a stop, hanging on to the icy raft, then kick, breath, kick, breath. As long as she kept moving, everything would be fine. There was no need to panic.

Her mind nothing but a dense fog keeping the panic at bay, it took a moment to realize that she was no longer moving through the water with each kick. She looked around. The raft was bumped up against a sandbar, thirty feet from the water’s edge on a rocky beach. She left the raft behind, trying very hard not to notice how much smaller it had gotten, and how it should have stayed the same size if Elsa’s magic was still powering it, but it used to be bigger, which meant- no, just swim.  _ Get to shore first _ .

She pulled herself onto the beach on her stomach. Her lungs and legs were in agony. She was so tired, more tired than she had ever been. And there, at least for the moment removed from danger, she collapsed into darkness.

* * *

Ciri had dragged herself onto the beach less than three hundred yards from where Heins would later arrive. If she had been conscious, she would have seen them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New narrator time. In the original outline, Ciri was literally never going to make it out of Arendelle. She was never going to be seen again after being taken from her home by the guards. She had a placeholder name and a generic description, and was originally older, around eighteen. As I began to write, I had the idea of tying in her being the daughter of the Assassin who saved Elsa in Corona, then it kept building from there. I dropped her age, gave her a more distinctive look, and started developing the somewhat mother/daughter relationship she has with Elsa, and now, she's basically a main character with narration privileges, and I think the story is much, much better for it. I try not to get too attached to my original outline, and this is one of those times I think it really paid off.
> 
> These chapters aren't a whole lot of fun (though there is some fun to be had), but they are some of my favorites. Ciri's determination, fortitude, optimism, and resourcefulness are on full display, and I think it really fleshes her out and shows how she could have survived on her own from the age of eleven, as well as keep pace with a group of relatively elite warriors who've been on the run for two years.


	79. Crimes of the Empire: Ciri - New Path

“Ciri, wake up!”

Ciri opened her eyes. She was lying on her back, on a rocky beach, staring up at the clear blue sky. She must have only just fallen asleep. Someone- no, several someones- were kneeling by her side. She looked around, her eyes coming into focus to see Elsa and Anna smiling down at her. “Elsa!” Ciri exclaimed. She sat up and pulled Elsa into a tight hug, which was returned with enthusiasm. “I thought you died!”

“We all made it, Ciri!” Anna laughed, smiling and jostling Ciri’s leg. “Close one, huh?” she said, winking, and Ciri laughed. Kristoff and Heins were there too, beaming at her, looking wet and disheveled, but- gloriously!- alive.

“What happened to you guys?” Ciri asked, relinquishing her tight grip on Elsa, but keeping one of Elsa’s hands in her own, her heart near overflowing with joy and relief. “I tried to find you!”

“I don’t know,” Elsa admitted. “I don’t remember anything after getting hit. I woke up here on the beach a little while ago.”

“Same for me,” Anna agreed.

“And us,” Kristoff said, indicating himself and Heins.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Ciri said, frowning. “I was out there for so long. None of you surfaced. How can you be alive?”

Elsa shrugged as raindrops began to fall. Ciri looked up. There were no clouds. A crack of thunder split the sky.

Ciri opened her eyes with a panicked gasp, trembling in the cold as the rain pounded down on her back. It was dark now, and the temperature had plummeted. Another flash of lightning split the sky. She rolled over, her legs feeling like they had been carved from stone for how flexible they were, then levered herself upright. She pulled her shirt closer around herself, but it was so soaked, and she was already so cold, that it didn’t really do much to help. She felt the panic beast rearing its head in her chest, so she struggled to her feet, groaning in pain as her knees screamed in protest, and looked around.

She was alone on a black, rocky beach in the dead of night. Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, and Heins were de-  _ missing _ . There was a thick forest bordering the beach. She had Anna’s knife still, thankfully. She rifled through her pockets, searching for anything else of use. Nothing. A horrible thought shot through Ciri’s mind.

Her fingers now trembling for a reason that had nothing to do with the cold, she reached into the buttoned shirt pocket where she kept the crystal rose Elsa had given her. Her fingers brushed against something cold. She pulled it out. There was the rose, but…

_ No. It doesn’t mean anything _ .

The rose was cracked. One of the otherwise flawless petals had a thin crack running all along its length.

“It’s okay,” Ciri said aloud, as though saying it out loud could  _ force _ it to be true. “It couldn’t  _ really _ have been completely indestructible. It’s okay,” she repeated. She put the rose back in its pocket. She looked back out at the water, and noticed, with another horrible, plummeting feeling in her stomach, that the raft she had swam in on was nowhere to be found. “It must have drifted away.”

_ But you know it didn’t, look at the tide, it would have been swept further inland _ , a cruel voice in the back of her mind pointed out.  _ It melted for the same reason the rose broke- Elsa is  _ dead. 

“It drifted away,” Ciri said to herself. Another flash of lightning shot across the sky, and the crack of thunder that accompanied it seemed to shake Ciri’s heart within her chest. With one last, desperate search of the water’s surface, searching for any sign of her family and finding none, Ciri turned and limped into the forest to find cover.

It didn’t take long to find a somewhat sheltered spot, a rocky outcropping that provided at least some cover from the storm. She huddled under it, her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around herself, trying to stay as warm as she could. It was impossible to tell what time it was, but now, with nothing to occupy her, she cried. Images and scenarios raced through her mind, battering her, tossing her back and forth in a maelstrom of grief and pain, of Elsa and Anna’s broken bodies, crushed by the impact of those terrible boulders, or Heins and Kristoff trapped in the wreckage, dragged into the deep to drown. She didn’t remember falling asleep, but there were times that she thought she might have drifted off, and eventually, the rain slowed and stopped, but Ciri was so cold. She couldn’t feel her fingers or her feet. Her mind was slowing down, too. It was harder to think. Her eyes wouldn’t focus. She realized with dull surprise that she was dying. Another voice floated up from the deep recesses of her mind, not harsh and insidious like the last, no, but the voice of Kristoff.

_ “Out in the wild, exposure’s the most likely killer. Being wet makes it way worse. You have to stay dry, however you can.” _

“Dry,” she whispered to herself. “Get dry.” She stretched her legs out slowly, ignoring the stabs of pain that shot through them. She struggled to her feet, then peeled her damp clothes off and wrung them out. She wiped off her body as best she could, flicking away as much of the leftover water as possible, before pulling her clothes back on. She was still wet and cold, but significantly less so for both. Feeling returned to her fingers and toes as she huddled close, trying to preserve warmth, and her mind started to clear as she warmed up, little by little. By the time she felt almost normal again, she could see the faintest glow of the rising sun. Another voice drifted into her mind, this time Anna’s. 

_ “You know better than most how cruel the world can be. But we have to keep going. Never give up. Keep moving. And do the next right thing you can.” _

She put her head in her hands, staring at the ground, and tried to think of what the next right thing was.  _ Come on, Ciri. Think. Focus. Next steps. What are they? _

But nothing came to mind. What on earth was the next right thing when Elsa and the others were dead? There was nothing she  _ could _ do. Why bother?

But that’s not right either. The others wouldn’t want her to just waste away and die out here, in some corner of the world, a million miles from home. But what could she do?

She decided to set her sights a little lower.  _ Survive. Figure out what to do later- first, make sure there  _ is _ a later. _

Alright, survive. She could do that. So, what did she know? She was stranded by herself in an unfamiliar land. She didn’t even know if this island was inhabited or not. So far as she was aware, she was not outright wanted by the Empire, but if she wasn’t careful, someone might start to question how she got here. The ships had been sunk, but the magician who destroyed the Spirit had gotten away, so the Empire would know that there was a possibility of survivors. All they would need to do is put two and two together, and Ciri would be dead. So- in a way, she  _ was _ wanted by the Empire after all. So to sum up- she was stranded, alone, in unfamiliar territory, on a possibly desolate island, while being hunted by the Empire.

Strangely, this train of thought did nothing to reassure Ciri. “Come on, Ciri, get it together,” she muttered, rubbing her hands on her temples. “Focus. Don’t fall apart.”

_ “The lay of the land is one of the most important things you can know, Ciri.”  _ This time it was Heins who seemed to be speaking to her.  _ “If you don’t know where you are, if you don’t know what’s around you, find out. It may show you where to go next.” _

“Okay,” Ciri whispered. “Find high ground.” She set off, deeper into the forest, searching for any rise high enough to clear the treetops. It didn’t take long to realize that it was a lost cause. The canopy was thick and almost unbroken. She would need to climb a tree to see her surroundings. She picked a likely candidate, then started the long climb to the canopy.

She was never going to be an assassin. She never wanted to be, either. She knew what her father’s business was from as far back as she could remember, but he always said that he wished his own parents had never brought him into the Order. He did it because he felt that it was right, but it was a hard life, full of misery and death, one he did not want for her. He wanted her to live a happy, peaceful, fulfilling life.  _ Whoops. Sorry, Dad. _

No, Ciri was never going to be an assassin. But that didn’t mean she hadn’t been able to pick up certain skills from watching her father train, then training alongside him when she got a little older. She was tall, thin, and strong, at least for her age and weight, especially after so many months of hard travel. She had the body of a dancer (with none of the grace or skill to use it effectively, but still), lean and muscled from her travels, and, thanks to her father, she was very adept at climbing. As she made her way up the trunk, it almost felt comforting. Like she was back home, and her father was cheering her on as she went higher and higher. She imagined what he would say if he could see her now.

_ “You can do this baby girl! Have faith. Don’t give up!” _

She paused halfway up to rest her legs. Her limbs dripped sweat. Now that the sun was rising, so was the temperature, and the humidity was suffocating. She wiped sweat out of her eyes twice while she did nothing more than rest on a branch. But she was almost there. She levered herself back up and continued the climb.

She reached the top a short while later. She poked her head as high as she could manage. She had chosen her tree well. She could see what felt like the whole island from up here. Back to the east, in the direction of the rising sun, she could see a portion of the black, rocky beach she had washed up on. She could not stop herself from straining her eyes to pick out anything floating out in the water, but was disappointed once again. She wasn’t even sure what she was trying to see. Their bodies?

She put the thought out of her head and inspected the rest of the island. It was inhabited after all. There was smoke rising from the tops of what looked like log houses in an oceanside village about a mile away, along the shore to the north. She surmised she was on the southern tip of the island, because the shoreline curved sharply out of sight only a few miles to the south. To the west, in the center of the island, was the mountain that formed the backbone of this small piece of land. Ciri’s eyes fell once more upon the village. A village on an island would surely have ships, right? And if there were ships, maybe she could find a way back to the mainland, where she could…

“The Queensguard!”

Ciri kicked herself for not remembering them earlier. Maybe the headache that had been troubling her all day was affecting her more than she thought. The Queensguard would certainly help her. It was a place to start, at least.

“Well… to the village,” Ciri mumbled. She climbed down (which was always way harder and scarier than going up), took a rest for her legs to recover, then set off in the direction of the village.

* * *

Heins had spent the entire night searching for her, calling her name. If not for the ferocity of the storm’s relentless downpour, she would have heard him.


	80. Crimes of the Empire: Ciri - Tom

By the time she reached the village, Ciri’s legs were on fire. Her throat was completely dry, so dry that she could no longer swallow. Trying to just sent her into a coughing fit. She had sweat what felt like gallons by this point in the day. In fact, she was pretty sure she had been drier while still laying on the beach in the rain. She crouched in the forest on the outskirts of the small town, trying to get her breathing under control. 

_ “Sometimes, you don’t have time to think. You just do.” _ Ciri bit back a sob as Elsa’s voice came to her mind.  _ “But when you do have time, take it. Plan your moves. Account for setbacks. Consider your options. And… stay safe.” _

Ciri examined the town as her breath returned to normal. It wasn’t very big, fewer than fifty buildings of various sizes, most of which looked like homes, though there was a small town square market she could see. There was a wooden pier attached to the town, but the only ships docked there were either small rowboats or huge fishing ships that would need well over a dozen to sail. Nothing she could use to reach the mainland, at any rate, not on her own. But maybe she could barter her way on? She could see people moving throughout the streets, and no guards in sight. This did not necessarily mean they weren’t there, but it was still a good sign. It meant these people may not realize who she is or who she came with right away. She had to do something soon. She was so thirsty. 

An idea came to her then. It would be safer if she could obfuscate exactly  _ when _ she arrived on the island. If she could make it seem like she got here days ago, they might not immediately associate her with the Spirit’s sinking. She ripped at her white blouse, widening some of the tears she had gotten from the thick underbrush. She grabbed handfuls of dirt and rubbed it all over herself and in her hair. When she finished, it looked like she had been living in the forest for a week, not just a day. Blood from a thousand tiny scratches stained her clothing, adding to the effect. She took a deep breath, then staggered out into the open towards the village.

“Hey!” she cried, making her voice as hoarse as possible- which wasn’t difficult, her voice was well on its way to vanishing from thirst. “Help! Please!” She saw heads turn, saw brows furrow, first in confusion, then concern. A boy and a girl, who looked like brother and sister, split off from a small group and ran towards her.

Ciri made a show of stumbling to her knees from exhaustion just before they reached her- again, not difficult- and they dropped down in front of her, looking at her in concern. 

“Miss, are you okay?” the boy asked, the older of the two, but not by much. He seemed to be only a year or two older than Ciri, and the girl looked to be about her age. She could see a few of the other townspeople still looking over with concern in their eyes, but no one else approached.

“I’ve been lost for days!” Ciri groaned, and the two siblings exchanged a shocked glance. “I thought I was going to die out there!”

“You’re safe now,” the boy said, his eyes as gentle as his tone. “Are you hurt?”

“I- I don’t think so,” Ciri stammered. “Thirsty.”

“Ella, go fetch some water,” he told his sister, who sprinted off at once. “What’s your name, miss?” he asked.

“C- Leila.” 

“Sileila?” he repeated, looking confused.

“Leila. Just Leila.”

“Okay, Leila. I’m Tom. You’ll be okay, don’t worry. You’re safe.” Just then, Ella returned with a full waterskin, which she offered to Ciri without speaking. Ciri took it and drank deeply. The water was cool and clean, and it soothed Ciri’s sore throat as she drank. “Woah there, not too much at once,” Tom chided, tugging the waterskin back from her. “You’ll upset your stomach.”

“Th-thanks,” Ciri gasped, out of breath from how long she had drunk.

“What happened to you, Leila?” Tom asked gently, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder, and to her surprise, she didn’t mind it. 

“Ship went down,” Ciri mumbled. “Family… They…” She felt her eyes burn with tears, and while they were not in any way part of the act, they helped her case. “They didn’t make it.” Ella and Tom exchanged a brief look.

“So you’re alone?” Tom said in a low voice. Ciri nodded miserably. The siblings exchanged another glance, and then they both smiled. “Nope,” Tom said, rising to his feet and offering his hand to Ciri. “Come with us.”

Ciri took his hand and allowed herself to be helped up, but when she felt his fingers relax, she held on. It was oddly comforting, and his look of surprise turned to one of quiet pleasure almost at once. It didn’t hurt that he was very good-looking, his brown hair shaggy but clean, his features kind yet strong, a hint of the handsome man he would surely become. Ella looked like she could be Ciri’s own sister. They had nearly the same shade of green in their eyes and pale skin, though her hair was dark as coal contrasted against Ciri’s ashen blonde which bordered on white. Tom and Ella led her through the small town to the house furthest from the shore, a small log cabin set back among the treeline of the forest. Ciri hesitated as they approached the house. What was she doing? This wasn’t part of the plan. She was going to try to find a way to the mainland. Find the Queensguard. Figure out what to do then. But then Tom gave a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry.” She smiled back, unable to help herself, and he pushed open the door.

“Mom?” he called, leading her into the house. “We’ve got company.”

“Huh?” A kind faced woman, with long brown hair in a braid down her back, turned around from a wash bin full of dishes. Her sleeves were rolled up and her arms were covered with soap. Her eyes widened in shock and she gasped. “Oh my god! What happened to you? Come in, sit down, please,” she said, rushing forward, hurriedly wiping off her hands on her apron. Before Ciri knew what was happening, she was already sitting in a comfortable armchair in the small sitting room, Tom’s mother fawning over her, concern in her eyes.

“Her name’s Leila, mom,” Tom was saying. “Her family’s ship went down. She’s been lost in the woods for days.”

Tears welled up in the woman’s eyes, but she smiled at Ciri, a warm smile that caused a horrible lurch in Ciri’s stomach. It reminded her of Elsa’s smile. “Oh, you poor thing. Don’t worry. You’re safe here. I’m Brynn.”

“Thank you,” Ciri whispered, overwhelmed with her kindness. It wasn’t quite the same as Elsa. Or dad. But it was still comforting.

“You’re welcome. Let’s get you cleaned up and out of those ratty clothes. There’s a- well, it’s a- Tom, why don’t you show her, and I’ll find her some clothes for after.”

“Sure mom,” Tom answered. “Come on, Leila, this way.” Ciri followed Tom out of the back door of the house and down a narrow path into the woods. They had only gone about a dozen yards when they came to the edge of a small cliff, with a set of stairs leading down to a pool of water tucked up against the forest’s edge. Tom gestured for her to go ahead, but Ciri hesitated. “Go on,” Tom prodded. “You can wash up down there. There’s soap in that little alcove there, see it?” He pointed, and Ciri could just make out a small dark shelf on one of the sides of the pool.

“Won’t it be cold?” Ciri asked, casting a suspicious glance around. The pool didn’t seem to be fed from anywhere, for all she could tell, it was full of rainwater.

Tom laughed. “You’re not from around here, are you?” Ciri shook her head, blushing. “Don’t worry. It’s plenty warm. That water is almost too hot sometimes. It’s fed by a hot spring,” he elaborated, at Ciri’s questioning gaze. Ciri continued staring blankly at him. “You don’t know what a spring is?” he said, sounding incredulous now.

“Yeah, so what?” Ciri challenged, feeling foolish and a little defensive.

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” Tom said, looking sheepish, and Ciri felt a small twinge of guilt at her reaction. “Just- you’re from the mainland, aren’t you?” Ciri nodded before she could think better of it. “I’m sorry, everyone here knows what springs are. I didn’t think of that.”

“It’s okay,” Ciri muttered. One awkward silence later, she said, “So what are springs?”

“Oh! They’re sort of rivers that come from underground. The islands are all volcanic, so the water underground is really hot. That’s how the pool stays warm.” He nudged her forward. “Go on. Leave your clothes on that rock there, and someone will bring you clean ones. Don’t worry- I won’t peek.” Ciri blushed again, feeling the heat run up the back of her neck.

“Thanks,” she muttered, then took the stairs down to the pool. She looked back up to see Tom watching her, and she kicked off a shoe and dipped a toe into the water. True to his word, it was very warm, and she gasped in surprise. She had never seen anything like this. She looked at Tom again, and he grinned and flashed her a thumbs up before turning around and going back to the house. He swore he wouldn’t peek, but Ciri couldn’t help but feel exposed as she stripped her ruined clothes off and slid into the pool, making sure Anna’s knife was hidden, but within reach. She also took the rose out, setting it next to the knife. It was still cracked, but had not broken or melted any more, which helped to encourage her.  _ But she said it wouldn’t break as long as she was alive, and there’s a crack right there _ , a cruel voice whispered, floating to the front of her mind. She shoved the voice down, slipping all the way down into the pool.

The exposed feeling faded as she submerged more of her body in the water. It was the perfect temperature, and felt incredible on her sore muscles. She relaxed into the pool, closing her eyes and just enjoying the warmth and the weightless feeling.  _ Anna would have loved this _ . The thought floated unbidden across her mind, and tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. She couldn’t believe how much she missed them. It was a physical ache, a nauseating churning in her stomach, a chill running up her body despite the warmth of the pool. 

“Leila?” 

Ciri started, and hurried to cover herself as much as she could with her arms, but as she opened her eyes, she could see that Tom was not in sight, he had called down from the other side of the ledge. “Yeah?” she called back, trying not to let her voice shake- she was still on edge, and his sudden call had scared her more than it should have.

“I’ve got some of Ella’s clothes for you. I’m NOT PEEKING, okay?!” She saw the top of his head come into view, but it was the back of his head. He stepped down the stairs backwards, each step slow and careful. One arm held a bundle of cloth, and his face was buried in the crook of his other arm, just in case Ciri thought he could still see facing the complete opposite direction. Ciri had to suppress a giggle at the sight. He was certainly a gentleman, if nothing else. He got to the rock where Ciri had laid her clothes, and she saw him uncover just enough of his eyes to swap the bundle in his arm for her ruined outfit, then start forward again. He paused as he reached the bottom of the stairs. “Mom said to take as long as you want, and she’s got soup for you when you’re done, okay?”

Ciri looked down, her eyes welling up once more. “Thank you,” she croaked, her throat closing up with emotion.

“You’re welcome, Leila.” The name sent a stab of guilt through Ciri’s heart. Tom and his family were being so nice, and she was lying to them from the moment they met. “It’ll all be okay, okay?” Ciri couldn’t reply, but Tom didn’t seem to take offense. He just trudged back up the stairs and disappeared from view. Ciri drew her legs to her chest and hugged herself, rocking back and forth, trying to get it together before she was overwhelmed with grief and gratitude and guilt. She wanted to make Elsa proud, and falling apart wouldn’t help that. 

Deciding it would be easier to distract herself if she was doing something, she found the soap and a stack of folded washcloths in the small alcove Tom had pointed out. She had dirtied herself up before revealing herself to Tom and Ella, but even if she hadn’t, it had been weeks since she last had the opportunity to bathe (a small stream they’d come across on the way to the Earth Temple), so she took her time, scrubbing herself head to toe several times. Her hair took the longest, full of knots and tangles, and by the time she had gotten them all out, her scalp was sore, but her hair was clean. She put the soap back, but wasn’t sure what to do with the washcloth, so she just spread it out on a rock to dry. She would tell Tom when she went back up to the house. Her fingers and toes were starting to prune, and she decided to get out soon, but stayed in for a few minutes more. It felt too nice, soaking in the warmth and the feeling of running her hands over her arms and legs. It had been a  _ long _ time since she was this clean, and she hadn’t had the chance for a bath this long and warm since before her father died. It was a luxury a poor orphan girl in the capital of the Empire did not get to enjoy.

She finally managed to drag herself out of the pool and over to the small bundle of clothing. On top was a towel with a note pinned to it. She read that first.

_ Ella’s about your size, so hopefully these fit you okay. Sorry, they’re just shirt and pants, Ella’s a bit of a tomboy- Brynn _

Ciri smiled to herself. She didn’t typically take to dresses anyway. She dried off and dressed, and as Brynn had guessed, the clothes fit pretty well, if a little too small. She put the rose in her pocket, but would not be able to carry her knife unseen. She debated carrying it on her hip, but the high quality and ornate sheath would raise dangerous questions, questions that might draw the Empire to her faster. She figured that as long as it was close, that was okay. The Empire wasn’t after her directly (she hoped), and with the others gone-  _ no _ . She forced her thoughts away from that dark place at once. 

She debated putting her hair up, like she usually did, but it had been so long since it had been this smooth and tangle-free that it seemed a waste to do so. She shrugged and left it down around her shoulders, then climbed the stairs. When she got back to the house, no one was outside, but she could hear Tom, Brynn, and Ella inside. She hid the dagger in a small fern next to the door, then pushed it open, saying, “It’s me, Leila,” as she did so. Brynn was stirring something in a pot on a wood stove, while Tom and Ella played some kind of game with cards on the sitting room floor.

“Hey, Leila, you’re-” Tom greeted her as she came in, but as his eyes fell on her, he seemed to choke mid-word. Ciri took a half step back, her hands clasping in front of her chest.

“What?” Had she somehow forgotten to get totally dressed? Was the shirt see-through? Was her hair all messed up? Was-

Tom blinked twice and shook his head. “Nothing.”

“Tom thinks you’re pretty,” Ella said, laughing.

“Shut up!” Tom shouted, his face flooding with color, whacking his sister in the arm.

“Tom and Leila, sittin in a tree!” Ella danced out of her brother’s reach, as Tom leapt to his feet to chase her. Ciri could tell now that what she had taken for a girl her age was in fact a year or two younger, just tall for her age. No wonder the clothes were a little small, she must outgrow things fast.

“Children, settle down!” Brynn called over the noise, swatting them both away with her apron, and Ella fled out the front door, pursued by Tom. “Leila dear, I’m so sorry about this, please forgive my silly kids.”

“It’s okay,” Ciri said in a small voice, her ears burning and the back of her neck on fire. She stared at the ground, then held out the towel. “Thanks,” she mumbled as Brynn took it. “I left the washcloth on a rock down by the pool.”

“That’s fine, dear. Are you hungry?” 

Ciri nodded, still blushing. “Thank you so much,” she said with a curtsey. “When your son invited me in, I didn’t expect to be welcomed like this. Thank you.” Tears burned in her eyes and she wiped them away before they could fall.

Brynn smiled. “That’s my boy,” she said with obvious pride. “It’s no trouble, dear. Come, sit down!” She led Ciri to the small table, then served her some of the most delicious split pea soup Ciri had ever tasted. She was ravenously hungry, hungrier than she had realized, and she devoured the soup in huge gulps, not even noticing the mess she was making. Tom and Ella returned halfway through her meal, Ella rubbing her arm, Tom very red and avoiding Ciri’s gaze.

“Thank you so much,” Ciri said when she finished, feeling a little ashamed as she looked at the destruction she had wrought on the table. “I can clean this up,” she offered. 

Brynn bustled over and laughed. “You  _ were _ hungry! Don’t worry, dear, I can do it. I clean up bigger messes for the kids every day. By the way…” She consulted the clock on the wall. “My husband, Ben, will be arriving home any second. Once he does, we can talk about what you’d like to do next. Of course, you can stay-” As if on cue, the door swung open, and Ben walked in, wearing a wide brimmed hat, fishing waders, and sporting a wide smile hidden behind a bushy beard. He was large and strong, larger even than Kristoff, but his eyes were kind.

“Dad!” Ella cried, running at her father and jumping into a hug. Tom followed, his face more serious than his sister’s, gesturing towards Ciri, but Ben spoke before he could.

“Hey kids!” Ben boomed, his voice as large as the man, hugging them both. “Get into any trouble today?” His eyes fell on Ciri, and he blinked in surprise, then grinned at Tom, giving him a good-natured shake. “Get yourself a girlfriend there, big man?” 

Ciri looked down at the table, blushing furiously as Tom looked uncomfortable. She was beginning to think she was going to turn permanently red.

“Honey, it’s not like that,” Brynn cut across Tom’s protests, putting her hands protectively on Ciri’s shoulders. 

“Dad,” Tom said in a low voice. “Her parents’ ship went down a few days ago. They didn’t make it. She’s been lost in the woods until today. Me and Ella found her, and I invited her back here.” Ben’s mouth fell open, and he stared at Ciri.

“I didn’t mean to impose,” Ciri said in a small voice, looking down at the table. “I’m sorry for the trouble.”

“Oh…” Ben breathed, sounding mortified. “I’m so sorry, young lady.” He broke away from his daughter and crossed to her, putting a large but surprisingly gentle hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him to see sympathy in his eyes. “I didn’t mean to make light of that,” he said. 

“It’s okay,” Ciri said, her voice coming out scratchy and rough. She cleared her throat and tried again. “It’s okay.” 

“We take care of our own here,” Ben announced, stepping back. “I’m sure my wife has already offered, but of course you can stay as long as you need. Do you have family somewhere we can contact?” 

Ciri tried to say, “No,” but her throat stuck together, so she shook her head instead.

“No matter. There’s not that much room here, I’m afraid. Tom- give her your bed.”

Ciri’s eyes widened and she shook her head, holding out her hands. “No, no, no,” she croaked, “I couldn’t, really, that’s too much-”

“It’s no trouble, Leila,” Tom said. “We’ve got some spare blankets, I can sleep on the floor out here or something.”

“That’s my boy,” Ben growled, clapping Tom on the back. 

“Really, I couldn’t, you don’t have to-”

“Nonsense,” Brynn said. “You need rest, dear.”

Ciri couldn’t take it anymore. She burst into tears. It was too much. The pain of losing Elsa, and Anna, and Heins, and Kristoff, the guilt of lying to this family who was being so kind, so selfless, so trusting, the exhaustion, the fear- everything rolled over her like a tidal wave, and she was swept along in its wake. She gasped for breath, sobbing harder with every one.

“Leila dear, come along, up you get,” Brynn was saying, and Ciri felt herself being guided to the small couch in the sitting room. She fell into it, still crying, and Tom came over with a blanket, covering her up, his motions slow and careful, then retreated. Brynn seated herself next to Ciri and put her arms around her, holding her as Ciri sobbed and sobbed. 

Every time Ciri thought she was about to get a hold of herself, she would instead cry harder as someone’s face appeared in her mind- Elsa, her eyes full of love, offering Ciri the crystal rose. Anna, helping her to understand why Elsa was the way she was, how much Elsa truly cared for her, being the supportive big sister Ciri had always secretly wanted. Heins, his eyes alight as he shared stories from his childhood here in these very islands. Kristoff, happily regaling her with tales of court from the eyes of someone who was once a commoner, like her. And, most painful of all, all the time she had lost with them, all the memories they could have made and now never could, the potential of a lifetime of sharing in their joy, all lost. This all rushed through her mind like a stampede, buffeting her from one terrible thought to the next while she desperately tried to hang on.

Had it really been just yesterday she had woken up on the beach, with the Spirit gleaming in the sun and her family around her? And now, it was all happening again. She lost her family. Again. Tom and his family were nice. They had been welcoming and kind. But they weren’t her family. They weren’t her father, and they weren’t Elsa.

If she stayed here, could they be? Possibly. But she didn’t know if she even wanted that. It hurt too much.

* * *

It took Ciri a long time to stop crying. By the time she did, the sky had darkened, and it felt like she had no tears left. Her eyes and throat burned, and she stared at the ground, feeling empty and numb. Ella and Tom had both attempted to cheer her up, but Ciri responded with one word, monotone answers, and before long they backed off and left her alone. She wasn’t  _ trying _ to be rude, but she couldn’t muster the strength for any more. She was so tired. Tom and Ella had returned to their game, which Tom was much better than Ella at, judging by how much he was grinning at his sister’s frustration. Brynn and Ben sat at the table, discussing something in low voices. Probably Ciri, but she couldn’t muster up the energy to care.

“Children, bedtime,” Brynn called, after Ella hadn’t quite managed to stifle a yawn.

“But mom, can’t-”

“Listen to your mother,” Ben said wearily without looking up, and Ella stopped her protest at once. She started picking up the pieces to their game, while Tom approached Ciri with light steps, as though afraid he might startle her..

“Hey Leila, um… I can show you where you’ll be sleeping?” It was half question, half statement. Ciri didn’t answer, she just stood up. Tom led the way past the table, but before Ciri followed, she paused at Brynn and Ben.

“Thank you. I…” She wanted to say more, but nothing came to mind. How was she supposed to convey her gratitude when all she felt was emptiness? Brynn waved it away after a moment.

“It’s no trouble, dear.”

“Get some rest, young lady,” Ben added. “You’ll feel better after a night’s sleep.”

Ciri doubted this, but she nodded anyway and followed Tom down the short hallway, into a small bedroom. It was reasonably clean, with only a short pile of what looked like dirty clothes in the corner, and a book and a small lantern on the bedside table. “It’s not much, but it’s comfortable at least.”

“Are you sure about this?” Ciri asked, staring at the floor as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, feeling guiltier than ever. “I can sleep on the floor, or-”

“Leila, stop. It’s okay.” He smiled at her, and she couldn’t help but smile back. He had a very nice smile. “That’s mom and dad, and that’s Ella,” he said, pointing at the two doors on the other side of the hallway. “I’ll be in the sitting room. Give a shout if you need something, okay?” 

“Thank you,” Ciri muttered, looking back at the floor. She felt Tom put an awkward, but still comforting, hand on her shoulder.

“It’ll be okay, Leila,” he said, then left the room, the door closing with a soft  _ click _ behind him, and then she heard his footsteps padding down the hall. Another wave of equal parts gratitude and guilt crashed over her, and she fell into the bed, curling up and clutching the pillow. It was comfortable, made all the more so by the fact that she hadn’t laid in a proper bed in months, and, surprisingly, it took almost no time for Ciri to fall asleep.

* * *

If Elsa hadn’t sent up the flurries while Ciri soaked in the pool, she might have seen them.


	81. Crimes of the Empire: Ciri - Hope

“ELSA!” Ciri screamed, bolting upright, her heart pounding, sweat coating her limbs. Her eyes darted around, sweeping over the unfamiliar darkened room, and then the door swung open, and then  _ he _ was there, the magician from her nightmares, coming to kill her like he had killed her family, and she threw herself away, tumbling off of the bed, smacking her knee on the ground but not heeding the pain, then she scrambled into a corner, balling herself up to make herself the smallest target, as the magician got closer and reached out for her-

“Leila! Leila!”

Ciri’s panicked mind slowed down. The haze of fear that had descended over her vision was lifting. She was not about to be killed by the magician who slaughtered her family. She was in Tom’s room. She was safe. She looked up at who was still saying Leila’s name- no, not Leila’s name, Ciri’s fake name. It was Tom, and he was a few feet away, holding up both hands, staring at her with wide, frightened eyes.

“I’m… okay,” Ciri gasped, beginning to catch her breath and standing up. “Had… nightmare…”

“That’s some nightmare,” Tom said, putting his hands at his sides and looking uncomfortable, as Ciri sat down on the bed, her head in her hands, feeling sweat drip from her face. “Are you okay now?”

“I think so,” Ciri sighed. “Sorry I woke you up.”

“No worries.” Tom sat down next to her. “You’ve had a bad couple days.”

“That’s one way to put it,” Ciri snorted. She was starting to feel a little better. 

Tom nudged her with his elbow. “Go back to sleep. You need it.” He stood up and helped her fix the sheets on the bed, having been thrown aside in her panic. Once Ciri had gotten laid back down, he began to leave.

“Don’t,” Ciri said, on impulse. The panic had faded, but the dread, the fear, the unsettling feeling of beasts lurking in the shadows had not. She didn’t want to be alone. “Will you stay in here? At least until I fall asleep? …Please?” 

Tom looked uncomfortable, but to Ciri’s immense relief, he agreed. Ciri scooted aside so that he could sit down on the edge of the bed, which he did, after an awkward hesitation. It was kind of endearing. “Thank you,” she murmured, closing her eyes.

“No worries, Leila. Get some sleep.”

* * *

When Ciri woke up, the sun streamed in through the window, and she felt somewhat refreshed. Better than she had last night, at least. Tom was gone, or at least, that’s what she thought at first, but she could hear someone breathing. She sat up and looked around. Tom was sitting on the floor up against the side of the bed, his head drooping to his chest, fast asleep. 

Ciri felt a rush of emotions. First, there was a surge of affection for Tom. He had stayed with her all night, just to make sure she slept better. But then, there was a much stronger surge of shame. He didn’t even know her real name.

He stirred when Ciri sat up, then his eyes opened and he blinked several times. He seemed to realize where he was, then looked around at Ciri. He beamed when he saw her. “Good morning, Leila.”

“Good morning. You stayed in here all night?”

“Yeah,” he said, but then his eyes widened. “Should I not have? You were still tossing and turning, I thought you were having another nightmare so I stayed, I’m sorry-”

“No, Tom, it’s fine. I… really appreciate it.”

“Oh,” he sighed. “That’s good.” He stood up and stretched, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m glad you appreciated it at least, my neck is killing me.”

“Sorry.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” he said quickly, apparently having not realized how Ciri might take his complaint. “I didn’t mean it wasn’t worth it. I… I just wanted you to sleep well,” he finished, looking at the ground. Ciri smiled.

“Thank you. For everything.” 

He smiled back, then stood there for a moment, fidgeting with his hands.

“Well… I’ll let you get changed, I guess. Mom put some clean clothes in here for you this morning.” He pointed at an outfit that was folded up at the foot of the bed. “These should fit better, while you- I mean, last night, she made a few adjustments to some of my old clothes.”

“She did?” Ciri asked, surprised and touched that Brynn would go to such an effort. 

“Yeah. Come on out when you’re ready. We’ll have breakfast soon, I think.” With that, he left the room, closing the door behind him. 

Ciri sighed and rolled out of bed, then went over to the outfit. It was a comfortable looking pair of tan pants and a plain blue shirt, and, after getting momentarily stuck in Ella’s too-small shirt, she changed into the new clothes. Brynn had done a wonderful job. The pants and shirt had been tailored to fit with expert precision. She had a knack for sewing, it seemed. Ciri crept out of the room, still feeling awkward and uncomfortable that these people she was lying to were being so welcoming. 

“Good morning, Leila. Did you sleep well?” Brynn said with a bright smile as Ciri came out into the sitting room. She was bustling around in the small kitchen, frying eggs and bacon in a large pan. Ben was at the table, sipping bleary-eyed at a cup of coffee. Tom sat next to his father, his head in his hands, already half-asleep again, and Ciri couldn’t help but smile. He can’t have slept well. Ella was there too, chattering away to her father, who was making a valiant effort of seeming interested even as Ella repeated herself four times in a matter of seconds.

“Sort of,” Ciri answered. “Bad dreams.”

Brynn gave her a sympathetic look, then came over and hugged Ciri, who returned it. “I know it’s hard,” she mumbled in Ciri’s ear. “But it will get easier in time. It won’t always be like this.”

“I know,” Ciri said, backing up and sniffling, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. “I… I miss them.” She became aware that Ella had fallen silent, and that Ella and Tom were both looking at her.

“So Tom,” Ben boomed, drawing the attention away from Ciri. “What was that thing you were telling me about? Something about a new fishing rod you built?”  _ Thank you, Ben _ .

As Tom turned to his father to reply, Ciri followed Brynn back into the small kitchen. “Can I help?” she asked. “Please?” she added, seeing Brynn about to decline.

Brynn smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. She was pitying Ciri, but right now, Ciri didn’t care so long as she said yes and gave Ciri something to distract herself. “Sure. Can you cut up this fruit, please?” She pushed a cutting board, knife, and a pile of fresh fruit over to Ciri. She took up the knife and started chopping, losing herself in the mindless task, trying not to think about Elsa, whose eyes had been the precise shade of these blueberries, or Anna, whose hair had been about the color of these strawberries, or…

Ciri’s eyes stung with tears. She sniffed and wiped them away before they could fall, hoping Brynn wouldn’t notice. It felt so keenly like her father’s death. For so long, everything reminded her of him, and she meant  _ everything _ . Even such innocuous things as a leaf blowing on the wind pulled her back to an autumn day, walking through the woods near Arendelle with her father. A whiff of cinnamon would send her back to when her father made her cinnamon pancakes for her birthday- or rather, tried to. He was an awful cook, and the pancakes were burned a little on one side, but he’d gone very far out of his comfort zone to try to make her happy, and she’d never eaten anything tastier in her life. Now, a pile of fruit was in front of her, and all she could see was the  _ second _ family she had lost. 

She managed to avoid breaking down while she finished cutting the fruit, sweeping the pieces into a large bowl, just as Brynn announced that the bacon and eggs were done. She scooped a generous heap of scrambled eggs onto five plates, topped them with three or four strips of bacon, then dumped a scoop of fruit salad onto the edge of the plate. 

“Alright, boys and girls,” Brynn announced, standing back and clapping her hands. “Come and get it!” Ella got there first, snatching her plate and getting back to her chair before Ciri had even begun to move. Tom was next.

“Thanks, mom!” he said as he sat back down.

“Yeah, ‘fanks!” Ella cried, spraying bits of egg over the table, to Tom’s annoyance. 

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Ben chastised as he sat back down.

“Thank you,” Ciri muttered as she took her plate and turned towards the table, but then she hesitated. There were only four chairs at the table. She couldn’t take Brynn’s seat. 

Tom realized this around the same time. “Sit here, Leila,” he said with a cheery gesture, standing up so that she could take his place instead, but Ciri still hesitated.

“No, it’s okay-”

“I insist, please, sit down,” Tom urged, stepping back and leaning against the wall, taking another bite of his eggs as though that would convince her. It didn’t, but Brynn did.

“Go on, dear, you’re our guest,” she said, nudging Ciri forward, carrying her own plate. The back of Ciri’s neck burned, but she sat down anyway, staring down at her plate, feeling like an intruder, like she had broken in somewhere she wasn’t supposed to be. On some level, she was grateful for Tom’s accommodation, but on another, it only served to reinforce how out of place she was. She was a guest, but that’s all she was. She didn’t truly belong here. She hadn’t even truly belonged with Elsa and the others. She couldn’t fight, she wasn’t educated. She had absolutely nothing to offer anyone, least of all a magical Queen. Even now, in this more mundane setting, she was nothing but a rock in a stream, forcing everyone else to bend around her. She was useless.

She didn’t have much of an appetite, but knew she should eat, and so she forced herself to eat around half the eggs and two strips of bacon. She did eat all the fruit, and the meal was delicious. She only wished she had a couple other choice people to share it with. 

Ciri sat there, miserable thoughts racing through her head, her hands folded in her lap, as Ben rose and left for the day, as Ella ran outside, as Brynn and Tom cleaned up the kitchen. She wanted to offer to help, but she couldn’t. The longer she didn’t, the more awkward it would be if she did- so she sat there like the useless stray she was. 

Tom approached her. “You okay?” Ciri couldn’t form the words, so she just shook her head. Tom held out his hand. “Come on. I want to show you something.”

Ciri couldn’t think of a convincing reason not to go, so she climbed to her feet and followed Tom out the back door. Brynn gave her a sad smile as she left.

“Where are we going?” Ciri asked, not caring about the answer. It was sinking in now. All Ciri could feel was despair. Despair, and all-consuming emptiness. She wasn’t sure which feeling was worse.

“It’s a bit of a hike. Let me know if you get tired, okay?”

Ciri snorted quietly, but did not smile. “Same goes for you.” Tom paused, surprised, then grinned and kept moving. He led Ciri past the pool she had bathed in, deeper into the forest. She followed him without paying attention, having no idea nor care where she was going. To her mild surprise, Tom tired no quicker than she did as they trudged ever uphill into the forest, even as the ground got steeper and steeper, to the point that they had to use tree trunks to pull themselves up a few sheer points. They hiked in silence, and Ciri wasn’t sure whether she wanted to break it or not. Would breaking the silence take her mind off her despair? Or would she just wind up lashing out at him? 

She had no real reference for how far they had gone, but she guessed that it was at least a few miles, almost always uphill. Eventually, Tom paused and turned around to face Ciri. Both of them were red faced and sweating.

“We’re here,” he said.

“Where’s here?” Ciri asked, wiping some sweat off her brow. It didn’t look any different than anywhere else. Trees, trees, trees. 

“Well, right through there,” he admitted, pointing towards a small gap in the brush. “I wanted to bring you here, because… look, Leila. I know you’re not okay. But I wanted to show you something, to… try to let you know that it’s not all over. Go through there.”

A tiny flicker of curiosity cut through the emptiness in Ciri’s heart. She walked forward through the gap in the trees. She pushed a fern out of the way, then gasped. She was standing on the edge of a rocky cliff overlooking the whole side of the island. The forest stretched out beneath her, waving merrily in a light breeze, the deep green transitioning into the deep blue of the sea, which twinkled out of sight as it shifted to the clear blue sky, with fluffy white clouds drifting across it. The view was breathtaking. Ciri had never seen anything like it. She suddenly felt very small, very insignificant. The world was big, and she was only a tiny part of it, but somehow, that also made her feel a little better. The world  _ was _ big, and here it still was, in all its breathtaking beauty, even after it felt like Ciri’s world had ended. 

“It’s beautiful,” she whispered, as Tom came up next to her.

“I hoped you’d think so,” he answered, taking a deep breath and absorbing the view. “I found this spot a few years ago. I come up here when stuff down there gets too messy, and I need to… I don’t know. Orient myself?”

“Get some perspective,” Ciri muttered.

“Yeah.”

Ciri crept forward, taking great care not to slip, and sat down on the edge, dangling her feet off the ledge, and Tom sat down next to her. They sat in silence for a little while, admiring the view, but it was not an awkward silence. The silence that stretched between them now was a very comfortable one, like some of the time she would spend with Elsa, but… different. 

“Why did you go so far out of your way to help me?” Ciri asked after a while. “I mean, you don’t know me, but you and your family have already done so much. Why?”

Tom leaned forward, gazing out at the ocean. The sun made his hair seem much lighter than it had down in the village, and it blew back in the breeze sweeping up the face of the mountain. His face was contemplative, but there was a soft smile on his lips, and Ciri thought he looked very handsome indeed. “My mother has a saying. I guess you could call it a bit of a motto, or something like that.”

“What is it?” Ciri prompted.

“You don’t need a reason to help people.”

Ciri smiled. “I like that.”

Tom looked back at her, still leaning forward. “Yeah?” 

“Yeah.” 

They lapsed back into a comfortable silence for a bit, then Ciri said, “Tom, I have a question that might sound kind of odd.”

“Okay?”

“What… what do you think of the Empire?” 

He looked sideways at her. “That  _ is _ an odd question.” Ciri looked at him, waiting for an answer. “I… They’re fine.” 

“Tom, I’m not going to say anything to anyone. I want to know what you think.”

Tom’s face darkened. “I hate them. Hans is a murderer, and so are his brothers-”

“Not Heins,” Ciri said, before she could stop herself. 

“Huh?”

“So I’ve heard,” Ciri added quickly.

“Uh huh,” Tom scoffed, unconvinced. “What’s going on, Leila? Why do you care?”

Ciri hesitated, then decided to throw caution to the wind. “Tom, I have a confession to make. First of all, my name isn’t Leila.”

“What?” Tom said, his brow furrowing in confusion. “What do you mean? Why?”

“It’s Cirilla, but call me Ciri. I lied because…” Ciri broke off and sighed. “Tom… Can I trust you?”

“I don’t know,” he shot back, looking wounded. “I thought I could trust you.”

“I know,” Ciri said, burying her face in her hands as the shame swelled in her chest. “I swear, I didn’t want to.”

“Then why did you?”

“Because the Empire may be looking for me.”

“What?” Tom gasped, all hurt forgotten and disappearing from his face. “Why?”

“Well…” She tilted her head back and sighed. Where to even begin? “It’s complicated.”

Tom gestured around them. “We’ve got nowhere to go, and all day to get there.”

“Okay,” Ciri relented. “But swear to me you won’t tell anyone else about this.” She stared into his eyes, trying to see the truth in them.

“I swear.”

Reasonably convinced, Ciri began. “Do you know anything about the old Queen of Arendelle?”

“You mean the sorceress?” he said. Ciri nodded. “Yeah. She died when the Empire rose, right?”

“She didn’t die.” Her eyes burned, and she clenched her jaw, trying not to let the tears come. “At least, not then.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out the cracked rose. “She gave this to me. About a month ago.”

“What?” 

Ciri put the rose back in her pocket, and started telling Tom all about what she had been doing for the past few months, frome helping to save Elsa and Anna, meeting Kristoff and Heins, traveling to Weselton and the attack there, finding out Arne was Ignis, finding the troll’s remains, exploring the cave, and finally, what had happened on the sea. About halfway through, she was getting overwhelmed with memories and struggled to speak. Tom hesitantly put his hand in hers, and that gentle pressure helped keep her grounded in the moment.

By the time she finished her story, they were no longer holding hands, but Ciri was leaning against Tom’s shoulder, his arm around her. It had been awkward at first, but now, Ciri thought it was very nice. “So I decided to lie. I didn’t know if the Empire knew my name, but I didn’t want anyone to know.” She sniffed and wiped her eyes. The sun had long since risen, burning high in the clear blue sky. She had talked for hours, and her throat was sore.

“Ciri,” Tom said, and for some reason, hearing her real name come from him made her feel slightly warmer. “Thank you for telling me all that. That can’t have been easy.” Ciri shook her head, looking down at her feet, still dangling off the ledge. “Wow,” Tom sighed. “So now what?”

“I have no idea.” Tom gave her a little squeeze.

“We’ll figure something out.”

“We?” Ciri asked, lifting her head off Tom’s shoulder and looking at him.

“Oh, sorry,” Tom said quickly. “I didn’t mean to assume-”

Overcome by impulse, Ciri pulled Tom towards her and pressed her lips to his. The kiss was short, awkward, and more than a little uncomfortable, but not unpleasurable. They broke apart abruptly, and from the color flooding Tom’s cheeks and how hot her own face was burning, she wasn’t sure which of them was a deeper red. Ciri couldn’t believe she had just done that, and from Tom’s expression, neither could he.

“Sorry,” Ciri said, sitting back away from Tom. “I don’t know why-”

“It’s fine,” he said quickly. The silence that stretched between them now was very definitely  _ not _ a comfortable one. Neither of them could bear to look at the other, and yet, Ciri felt a small glow of happiness buried deep under the turbulence of her heart. It took a few minutes, but eventually, the awkwardness drained away, and Ciri sat even closer to Tom, staring out at the beauty of the island. She had lost her family. But the world was still not over, and as long as it kept on turning, she would keep going.

* * *

If Elsa and the others had chosen to hide out to the west of the village, instead of to the south, Ciri and Tom would have walked straight through their camp on the way to the ridge.


	82. Crimes of the Empire: Ciri - Hope Shattered

Ciri and Tom took their time going back to the village. They walked hand in hand, enjoying each other’s company. Ciri’s heart was still an ocean of grief, but she had found an island- a tiny island, and the storm still raged on around her- but the perspective she had gained and the relief she felt from opening up to Tom was enough to keep the wind at bay, at least for a little while. She didn’t feel in danger of drowning, at least. 

They got back to the house a little while later, and Tom pushed open the back door. “Hey mom, we’re-”

Tom’s voice cut off with a strange choking sound. Something red and shiny was poking out of his back. Ciri stared at it, frowning, not understanding what she was looking at. Tom tipped backwards, the blade sliding out of his heart as he fell to the ground, his eyes open and already glassing over. 

“TOM!” Ciri screamed. She lunged towards the bush next to the door, reaching for Anna’s knife- why hadn’t she kept it on her?- then something hit her hard in the back of the head. Her vision blurred and dimmed, shifting out of focus as she fell to her knees, and then another blow struck her in the stomach, doubling her over and driving the breath out of her lungs, sending shockwaves of pain through her abdomen. Someone seized a fistful of her hair and pulled, dragging her into the house as she struggled to breathe, stumbling along as whoever it was pulled harder. The iron bands around her heart tightened as she saw the blank, empty stares of Ben, Brynn, and Ella, piled in the corner, a spreading pool of blood under their bodies. 

“No, no, no, no,” Ciri croaked, as though repeating the denial over and over could change the truth before her eyes. Two Empire soldiers carried in Tom’s body and threw it on top of his father’s. He landed hard with his face turned towards Ciri, and all she could see was his empty gaze. Two more soldiers forced Ciri to her stomach and bound her hands behind her back, then jerked her by the hair back upright on her knees. She was aware of nothing except the dead family in the corner. The family she had killed. Their eyes stared through her, accusing. Ben, who had been so immediately accommodating. Brynn, who had gone above and beyond in making Ciri feel at home. Ella, who had been so young, so full of energy and cheer. Tom, the person who had shown her that, despite all the pain and heartbreak, the world was full of beauty- dead on the floor, because of her. He was wrong. There was no beauty in the world. Nothing good. Nothing worth living for. Only brief respites from the pain, only serving to make the pain all the more exquisite when it returned. She would never be able to repay them for their kindness. Never be able to apologize for what she had done to them. Never be able to express her gratitude and regret.

“They knew what they were getting into,” came a smooth voice from overhead. A red haired man knelt down in front of Ciri, his lips curled in a cruel smile. “Harboring a fugitive from the Empire is risky business.” Ciri’s mind started to churn again, and her eyes shifted, from the family she had murdered, to the man in front of her. Words failed her as hatred coursed through her heart, mixing with the guilt. He was wrong. They had no idea what they’d brought upon their lives when they took Ciri in.

The man leaned closer, examining her. “Oh yes, I know all about you, Cirilla,” He laughed and stood up, strolling towards the front door as though he was only leaving a party. “You’ve been busy these past few months, traveling around with that pack of traitors who assassinated my poor brother. And now, you’re going to help us deal with them.”

More dull pain reverberated around Ciri’s heart. “They’re- dead,” she muttered.

The red haired man paused at the door and turned around. “Is that so… Hm. It’s possible, I suppose… No matter. I’m sure I can find a use for you regardless.” With that, he left the house. Before Ciri could process what he had said, she gasped as she felt a sharp, stabbing pain in the side of her neck, and then what felt like liquid fire rushed through her veins. Her vision spun as her mouth filled with the taste of acrid smoke, and then she fell forward. She did not remember hitting the ground.

* * *

Ciri woke suddenly, as the ground lurched and rolled. She rolled onto all fours and threw up, the contents of her stomach burning her throat as it splattered onto a wooden floor. When the heaving retches finally ceased, she collapsed to the side, her breath shuddering in great, heaving gasps, her hand clasped over the spot in her neck they had stabbed her with something. It was swollen, painful, and hot to the touch. Grief, shock, and horror threatened to overwhelm her, so she pushed it aside as far as she could and tried to get her bearings. Every muscle in her body felt sore, but it had nothing to do with the hike. She was in a dank wooden room- no, not a room, a cell, with one wall being made of thick iron bars. The opposite wall was wooden, but curved, and she understood why the floor was pitching and yawing- she was on a ship. 

She staggered to her feet, trying to ignore her stiff limbs, and limped to the iron bars, pressing her face against them at an angle, trying to see to either side as far as she could. She saw nothing but a dark, empty hallway on either side, lined with more cells like hers, though she could see no other occupants. She tried to wriggle out of the bars, but couldn’t quite fit. She looked around the rest of her cell, which took no time at all- it was empty. No chair, no cot, no bedding or blankets, no anything. She sat down against the wall opposite the bars, wrapping her arms around her knees and putting her face down, trying to get the headache that was now pounding against her temples to subside.

_ I killed them.  _ In the darkness, all she could see was their eyes, their horrible, accusing eyes, pleading with Ciri, yearning to understand why she had gotten them all killed.

_No!_ _Don’t fall apart! You’re not dead yet. You can still survive! It can’t be for nothing!_

Overcome with a furious determination, or maybe it was guilt driven by horror- either way, it didn’t matter- Ciri stood up and stretched her limbs, working out their kinks and soreness. If the Empire thought she was still incapacitated, she might get a chance to escape. She had to hope. She  _ had _ to. She had nothing else.

_ That red haired man must have been one of Heins’s brothers, _ Ciri realized as she stretched her legs out in front of her, then laid her upper body flat upon them. It was quite obvious now that she had the time to think about it. Harold, his name was- right? 

“Ow!” Ciri gasped, as a sharp pain ran up her leg that had nothing to do with her stretch. She moved aside, taking care to lift her leg straight off the wood, and saw that her thigh was bleeding, though not much. She peered down at the deck of the ship, and saw a large splinter peeling off from one of the boards, its end tinged red. After a moment’s hesitation, Ciri peeled it away from the rest of the board. It came in mostly one large piece, and Ciri now had a sharp, jagged piece of wood about five inches long. Not the ideal weapon, but if placed in the right location-

There was a commotion from down the hall. Ciri stuffed the splinter into her waistband and hurriedly lay back down, pretending to still be asleep. 

“...wants her brought to the pit.”

“The pit, huh? Poor girl.”

“Hey, don’t forget. She’s a traitor.”

“Yeah, I know, but… the pit. I hate that place.”

“I do too. That…  _ thing _ , scares me. But that’s what the Governor said, so that’s where we’re taking her.”

Ciri heard the rattling of keys, the clanking of a heavy lock unlatching, the squeak of iron as the cell door opened. She forced herself to remain limp, even as her heart thundered in her ears and fear flooded her body. Whatever the pit was, she did not want to find out.

“Doc really fucked her up, didn’t he?”

“Guess so. Help me lift her.”

Ciri felt hands grip her under her arms and pull her upright. Despite the pain in her shoulders, she let her legs drag and her head dangle as they carried her through the ship and out into bright sunlight. As her head lolled around, she dared a peek through barely-opened eyelids, and saw that she was on the deck of a ship docked at a city she assumed must be the capitol. She closed her eyes again, biding her time. If she tried to get away now, she would have nowhere to go. She would have to try to escape in the streets. 

She felt herself going down a slope- the gangplank, and then along more wooden surface- the dock, and then the more sporadic arrangement of the cobblestone streets of the city as the hubbub of the city grew louder and louder. After thirty seconds or so, she took another brief peek and saw that she was now in a sort of town square market, or something like it. Crowds, alleys, and potential escape routes were everywhere. She’d opened her eyes just in time- they were dragging her towards a wagon, waiting to bring her to whatever the pit was.

Without warning, she drove forward with her legs, yanking her arms out of the grips of her captors. She pulled the splinter from her waistband and spun, swinging it at the face of the guard on the right with a furious scream. She had been aiming for the eye, but instead, the splinter drove deep into his face just below his eye socket. That guard staggered backwards, clapping a hand to his face and screaming in pain and surprise, and while the other guard was distracted, Ciri kicked him with all the force she could muster, right between the legs. He grunted in pain and collapsed to the ground, and Ciri sprinted off as fast as she could. She could hear shouts of alarm from Empire soldiers behind her, and surprised townsfolk in front. She barreled through them, throwing people aside, knocking over fruit stands and clothing racks, desperate to slow down her pursuers. She chanced a quick look over her shoulder to see a small group of soldiers giving chase, but so far, her destructive trail was helping to slow them down as they tried to avoid the debris.

She reached the edge of the market and tore down an empty side street, praying she didn’t run into a dead end. She started taking turns at random, always running away from the sun so that she didn’t inadvertently backtrack straight into the Empire. She had just burst from an alley back onto a larger road, angling to keep off the main paths by crossing the road to another alley, when she ran straight into a wind so ferocious that it lifted her off her feet. She felt her balance go, and she tumbled backwards, landing in a heap on the cobblestone street. She scrambled upright, just as the same red haired man from before- Harold- landed gracefully on the street in front of her, grinning.

_ He was the magician on the water?!  _ Ciri spun around and tried to run back the way she had come, but the wind had shifted. It was now blowing her away from that alley with enough force that she could not make any headway. The wind stopped at once, and she lurched forward, unable to catch herself in time and tumbling to the ground, scraping her hands and knees bloody on the rocky street. A rough hand seized her hair and wrenched her head back, so that she was looking up at Harold upside down.

“You’ve got spirit, I’ll give you that,” Harold said, a malicious gleam in his eye. “But it won’t do you any good, I’m afraid.” Ciri could hear many footsteps approaching, her eyes watering from the pain on her scalp. Harold threw her down onto her stomach. “Hold her,” he ordered, and two soldiers pinned Ciri to the ground as she tried to rise. She heard the clinking of a belt buckle. She thrashed around, but it was no use. The leather belt whipped across the bottom of her feet once, twice, three times. Ciri threw her head back and screamed and fought, but the soldiers’ grips were too strong. She saw townspeople watching with horrified expressions. No one dared to say anything.

“Take her to the pit,” Harold ordered the surrounding soldiers. “No mistakes this time, or you’ll join her. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes sir.”

The soldiers yanked Ciri to her knees by her elbows, sending shocks of pain through her shoulders, then her hands were bound. Harold leaned in close.

“We’re going to have lots of fun together.” Ciri spit in his face. She barely saw Harold’s hand move before the back of it struck her across the cheek, knocking her head to the side and blurring her vision. Only her captor’s iron grips on her upper arms kept her upright. “I’m going to enjoy teaching you manners,” Harold said conversationally, wiping his face with a handkerchief. “The last one gave up  _ so easily _ . I wonder if you’ll hold out better?” He jerked his head back up the street, and the men holding Ciri marched forward, dragging her towards whatever hell awaited her in the pit.

* * *

The pit, as it turned out, wasn’t really a pit at all. In fact, Ciri wasn’t even sure why it was supposed to be so intimidating. It was just a cell, deep in the dungeons of the Southern Isles’ castle. A bare cell, true, so it would not be comfortable, but still, she didn’t see anything about it that would give off such an intimidating aura. After she was shoved inside and locked in, the guards didn’t even stick around. When she was alone, she sat down in the corner and tried to collect her thoughts.

Her attempts were in vain. No matter what topic she tried to force her mind to, all she could see were the blank, accusatory stares of Tom and his family. They had opened their home to her without a second thought, ignorant of the danger they were now in- and Ciri had not enlightened them. 

She ran her hands through her hair, almost compulsively, trying to quell the oncoming panic. She was clinging onto sanity by a mere thread at this point. Her only real chance of escape had come and gone, and she had failed. 

_ The rose! _ She hadn’t even thought of it until now. She clapped her hands to her torso, her pants, every pocket. “No...” she whimpered. The rose was gone.

“Wakey wakey, little snakey,” came a sing-songy voice, piercing the veil of sleep at once. Ciri opened her eyes to see a hideously ugly, deformed man, pressing his face against the bars of her cell, leering at her. Revulsion gripped her stomach, and her skin started to crawl as a soldier unlocked the door and he lurched inside. Her anxiety and fear only grew when the soldier slammed and locked the cell door behind him, and she sat up at once, sliding along the floor away from him. The deformed man’s greasy black hair fell in tangled strands past his shoulders. His back was hunched, and his shoulders were horribly twisted. His hands bore more resemblance to claws than hands. His teeth were crooked and yellowed, and the stench of his breath was nauseating. 

“What do you want?” she demanded, struggling to keep her voice from shaking.

The man hopped up and down, clapping his hands together, and Ciri saw that the soldiers were looking at him with as much derision as she was. “Oh, oh! Little snakey is curious! I’ve come to play! Play-time-play-time-play-time!” he chanted. He moved forward with surprising speed, seizing both of Ciri’s arms and throwing her back down onto the floor, pinning her down. His claws were like vises on Ciri’s wrists. 

“Let me go!” she screamed, thrashing around, her fear fast becoming blind panic. His face was very close now, and his breath reeked of rotted meat. 

“What are you afraid of, little snakey? Oh, I can’t  _ wait _ to find out!”

Ciri screamed, and then everything went black.


	83. Crimes of the Empire: Ciri - Dreams

Ciri opened her eyes. The sunshine through the trees made mottled patterns dance on the walls of the tent. She lay there for a moment, listening to the pleasant sound of birdsong, and the breeze whistling through the treetops. She rolled out of bed and stood up, stretching and yawning with a small smile. She felt great today, better than she had in a while. She dressed and left the tent, then she stopped dead in her tracks.

She was alone. Her tent was the only one in view. Her veins chilled and turned to ice. Where was everyone? Had they left her behind on accident? “ELSA!” Ciri screamed. “ANNA! ANYONE!!” There was no answer. “No, no, no, no,” Ciri muttered. “HELLO!!!!!” The birdsong was the only reply.

“Where did they go?” Ciri said to herself, her panic rising. “Did something happen to them?” She knew which way they had been headed, so she tore off in that direction, hoping against hope she would be able to find them. It wasn’t long before she started to see signs of their company passing through, and soon after that, she saw Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, and Heins up ahead. “HEY!” Ciri shouted, elated, and she could see them stop and turn towards her. “GUYS!”

She sprinted up to them and slid to a stop, beaming, but no one looked happy to see her- in fact, they looked downright furious. Anna looked at Elsa. “I told you we should have left earlier.”

“I know, Anna,” Elsa sighed. “I thought we’d be far enough away by now.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Ciri asked, her heart plummeting at the looks on their faces, looks of annoyance, of disdain, of irritation.

“Still not keeping up, are you?” Kristoff sneered at her. “I gotta tell you, Els, I’m not sure how you ever thought this piece of shit was worth having around.”

“Me either,” Elsa said, shrugging. “I was wrong, obviously. How was I supposed to know she’d be this useless?”

“Elsa?” Ciri whispered. Her vision distorted with tears.

“Look, Kiri,” Elsa said, then paused, frowning. “No, that’s not right... What’s your name again? Actually, never mind- I don’t care. You’ve cost us enough time dragging your worthless ass around. Why don’t you just fuck off somewhere and leave us alone?”

Ciri started to cry, and Elsa scoffed. “Oh, great, just what this day needed. Let’s just go.” The four of them began to move away, and on impulse, Ciri reached out for Elsa’s hand, desperate to understand. She had no sooner touched it than Elsa whirled around, slapping Ciri across the face so hard it knocked her to the ground, dazing her.

“Oh, are we finally allowed to do that?” Anna asked, her face shining with excitement. Before Ciri could do anything, Anna shouted, “You worthless little BITCH!” and swung a kick into Ciri’s side, sending waves of pain outward from Ciri’s ribs- which felt broken. It was almost impossible to breathe. “Oh my  _ god _ , you have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that!” Anna cried, jumping around in jubilation.

“W-why?” Ciri gasped, trying to crawl away, tears pouring down her face, her side radiating agony with every motion.

“You hear that?!” Heins laughed. “ _ Why _ , she asks.  _ WHY! _ How about because you’re fucking  _ annoying _ !?” Heins stomped on the small of Ciri’s back. There was a loud CRACK, and then Ciri couldn’t feel anything below the spot where he had stomped.

“P-p-please stop!” She pulled herself forward with her arms the best she could, but not fast enough. They were all getting involved now, raining down blows all over her- her arms, her back, her head, her face. Hands grabbed her shoulders and flipped her over onto her back, so that she stared up at the four of them, pure hatred on their faces.

“I should have done this a long time ago,” Elsa spat. She raised her foot, and brought it down hard on Ciri’s face-

* * *

Ciri staggered through the darkness, the sound of the beast getting closer. Its fearsome paws slammed the earth, sending tremors through the ground with every step. She could hear its growl, hear its hunger, hear its desire to rip her apart, to consume her, to shred her to pieces with its terrible claws, to devour her. She could feel its breath on her back now, and she knew it was over. Its serrated teeth sunk into her shoulder, tearing through her flesh, breaking through the collarbone, and then, with a blinding flash of pain and a tearing sound, her arm was ripped off. She stumbled along for a few more paces, then fell, blood pouring fast out of the ragged hole that was once her shoulder, and then she felt the beast’s claws on her back, felt them dig into her body, felt them ripping away-

* * *

The spider was huge- bigger than Ciri was. Its legs were hairy, its eyes many, its sharp mandibles clacking together, venom dripping from each vicious point, and Ciri tried to run, but she was caught in the spider's web, and she thrashed fruitlessly, but the more she fought, the more entangled she became, and the spider crept closer and closer, and then it was upon her, its fangs disappearing into her chest, filling her heart with fire and pain, slowing her struggles, her breathing becoming more labored, her throat closing-

* * *

Elsa was in front of her, a noose around her neck, and as Ciri watched in horror, Elsa fell, her neck snapping loudly-

* * *

Billions of ants swarmed over Ciri, and she slapped and slapped at them, but they kept swarming her, biting her, setting her body ablaze with pain, she could feel them crawling into her ears, her nose, her mouth, her  _ eyes- _

* * *

Anna was bent over an executioner's block, the axe swung down, slicing through Anna’s neck as cleanly as butter-

* * *

Kristoff was tied on a rack, ropes on his limbs, and then the horses started to gallop, and his arms and legs were ripped-

* * *

Ciri was plummeting from the sky, many thousands of feet up, and she had no wings, no options, no way to survive, and she knew it, and she screamed and screamed as the ground rushed up to meet her-

* * *

Heins was tied to a pole, and arrows buried themselves into his body, into his arms, legs, stomach, chest, head-

* * *

Ben, Brynn, Tom, Ella, they were on a pyre, and a torch touched the kindling and it went up, their screams piercing and filled with agony-

* * *

Ciri screamed, and screamed, and screamed, conscious of nothing but the fear and horror as vision after vision raced through her shattering mind, even after the deformed man had left, and the visions finally ceased, Ciri screamed. 

The man came to visit often, sometimes alone, sometimes with Harold. Hours turned to days, days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months as the torture continued. She could never tell if what she was experiencing was real or not. Though Ciri begged, and pleaded, and offered anything they wanted- no one ever asked her any questions.


	84. Crimes of the Empire: Ciri - False Salvation

Ciri had no idea how long she had been held prisoner. She could not remember ever falling asleep, though she knew she must have at some points on occasion. Without a window with which to see the sun, she had no idea whether it was day or night at any time. The only marker with which to mark the passage of time was the regular torture sessions, but even then, she could not tell when those were really occurring or not. She distinctly remembered being impaled through the gut, but at the same time, the evidence of those wounds would come and go, seemingly on a whim. One moment, she would look down at the gaping wound in her abdomen, then she would blink, and her stomach would be as smooth and unbroken as it had always been. The frayed edges of her sanity thought that she must not have been- wouldn’t she be dead?- but at the same time, hadn’t Elsa survived a similar injury when she’d been hit by the arrows? She relieved herself in the corner like a dog, and slept in the opposite corner on the stone floor. They must be force-feeding her when the man came to visit. She ate nothing, hoping to starve to death before the man arrived again, but she wouldn’t die.

It started out like any other time the deformed man came to visit. She heard the door at the top of the stairs open, and she sat up. Her breath quickened, and fear and panic swelled in her chest as footfalls sounded through the hallway. She pressed herself into the corner, making herself as small as she could, anything to buy even a fraction of a second of peace before the nightmares began- if they hadn’t already. She never could tell. 

When the footsteps stopped in front of Ciri’s cell, she covered her head with her hands and closed her eyes, cowering and shaking, hoping against hope that the deformed man would, for some reason, change his mind, and return upstairs without entering Ciri’s mind. 

“Ciri?”

Ciri’s eyes flew open. That voice was not the deformed man, nor was it the red haired man. In fact, it wasn’t even a man’s voice. It was a woman’s, surprised and familiar. Ciri looked outside the cell to see a woman in the hallway, looking stunned, staring open-mouthed at her. She had long, snowy blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. She wore dark clothing and had a bare blade in her hand.

“ _ Elsa?! _ ” Ciri gasped.

“Ciri! It is you!” Elsa said, her voice breathless with excitement but quiet. “Oh my god, I thought you died in the fire! Hang on, I can get this open.” She knelt down and stuck something into the cell keyhole, wiggling it around. There was a click, then Elsa’s eyes lit up. She pushed open the door and dashed over to Ciri. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

Ciri tried to answer, but rather than words, she burst into tears, pulling Elsa towards her and wrapping her arms around her neck. She never thought she would ever be able to hold Elsa again, and it felt wonderful, although she had to admit that despite all, she smelled terrible. Something else felt off, too, but Ciri ignored it- what did it matter? Of course she smelled, they had been living rough for months, Ciri just wasn’t used to it anymore after losing Elsa out on the water. Elsa returned the embrace, holding Ciri tight. “Oh, Ciri,” she sighed. “Let’s get you out of here.” She pulled back, but held on to Ciri. She pressed her forehead to Ciri’s. “You want that, don’t you?”

“Of course!”

Elsa beamed. “Can you stand with your feet like that?”

“I think so…” Ciri said. Elsa stood up and gently helped Ciri to her feet, or rather, tried to. As soon as Ciri put any weight on them, her soles erupted in agony, and she fell back to the ground with a pained whimper. 

“Alright. Come on,” Elsa said, slipping her arms under Ciri and picking her up with a grunt.

“Sorry,” Ciri muttered, holding on to Elsa’s neck, trying to balance her weight the best she could.

“It’s okay,” Elsa replied. 

“I’m glad you’re alive,” Ciri said, dropping her voice as Elsa stepped into the hallway and headed for the stairs at the end. “How did you survive, anyway?”

“Long story,” said Elsa, breathing a little harder as she climbed the stairs. Ciri looked away, feeling guilty for making Elsa carry her. “Tell you when we get out of here. We have work to do.” 

“What work, Elsa?” Ciri asked quietly, as they reached the top of the stairs and started moving through the darkened corridors of the castle. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

Ciri frowned and looked up at Elsa. It wasn’t like her to be so dismissive. Her face was solemn and tense. Ciri looked back up the passageway, and a surge of horror shot through her. Ahead of them, in the hallway, stood Harold and a handful of soldiers. 

“Elsa!?” Ciri cried. “What are you-”

But as she looked back at Elsa, she began to change. Her hair receded, her face thickened and roughened, and then she was being held by a grim looking man, bald, with a goatee and a scowl, who threw Ciri to the ground at Harold’s feet. Her knee smacked the stone floor, sending pins and needles exploding along her leg. She curled into a ball, clutching it and gasping in pain. In a flash, she realized what else had been wrong. She’d known her feet were injured without seeing them. Her hair was as long as it’d been two years ago, before she cut it. Above all, the thing that she  _ should _ have noticed over all others- Elsa was too warm.  _ You stupid, stupid girl.  _

“I’m disappointed in you,” Harold said. He knelt down next to her, his voice soft. “Tsk tsk. Bad girl.” Ciri didn’t answer. She was too busy berating herself. How could she have been so stupid? Of course it had been a trick. “Hm.” He looked at the soldiers. “Hold her down.” Ciri struggled, but it was no use. The soldiers threw her onto her back and held her arms and legs down, while Harold pulled a pair of pliers out of his pocket. He clicked them twice, then looked down at Ciri with a grin. “Now, are you going to be a good girl from now on, and stay in your cell?”

“Go fuck yourself,” Ciri spat. She would not give him the satisfaction of her groveling. 

“Now that’s no way to speak to your host,” he said, grabbing her right hand. Fear shot through Ciri. She tried to close her fist, but he pried it open. She felt cold metal on the tip of her pinky finger, and then-

“AHHHHHH!!!!!”

Ciri screamed as her fingernail peeled back, until it held by the very edge, and then Harold ripped. Stabbing pain flashed through her mind, intensifying as the cool air hit the sensitive bed under where the nail had been.

“Now, let’s try this again. Are you going to be a good girl and stay in your cell?”

“GO TO HELL!”

“Disappointing.” The pliers ripped again, this time on her right ring finger. Ciri tried to stay silent, but couldn’t- the pain was too severe. She gritted her teeth, but couldn’t stop a strangled whimper from escaping her throat. “Would you like to go for a third?”

“STOP!”

This time, he jumped to the index finger on her right hand. Ciri fought as hard as she could, straining against the soldiers holding her, but she couldn’t make any headway.

“One more try,” Harold said, switching to her left hand. “Are you going to be a good girl from now on?” Without waiting for a reply, he ripped off her middle fingernail on her left hand.

“STOP! PLEASE!” Ciri screamed, tears now steadily streaming down her face and into her hair.

“Are you going to be a good girl?”

“YES! PLEASE STOP!” Ciri sobbed.

“And you’ll stay in your cell?”

“YES! I’LL BE GOOD, I PROMISE!”

“Good!” Harold said, sounding pleased. He stood up. “Take her back,” he ordered. The soldiers picked Ciri up by her upper arms and started dragging her back along the hallway. Blood dripped from Ciri’s fingertips, leaving a trail of crimson droplets in their wake.


	85. Crimes of the Empire: Elsa - Hope Restored

Elsa’s horror and sorrow grew more intense with every passing word, but also, something else. It took a while to work out what the feeling was, and she wrestled with it as Ciri described her ordeal, from barely surviving that first night, to finding the village, to meeting Tom and his family, to their tragic ends, to her escape attempt in Aalborg, and finally, her experience in the pit. Elsa knew there were details about both Tom and the pit that Ciri was leaving out, but she would not dream of pressing her on them. It was only after Ciri had finished did Elsa realize what the feeling actually was.

“Ciri… I’m so proud of you.”

“What?”

“I’m proud of you. Very, very proud.”

“For what? All I did is get people ki-”

“No,” Elsa said, so forcefully that Ciri stopped mid-word. “Listen to me very carefully. You are not to blame for what the Empire did. Those bastards would love nothing more than to hear that you think it’s your fault. Don’t give them that. Beyond that, I’m proud because you were stranded by yourself in a land you didn’t know, but you  _ kept moving _ . You  _ kept _ surviving. You didn’t give up. Please don’t misunderstand, I’m appalled that you went through that, and I do hope you can take some solace in the fact that Harold is dead. But I can’t help but be proud of you. And I’m so, so glad you’re here.”

“... I am too. And I wasn’t trying to kill myself, earlier. Not really.”

“Uh…” Elsa didn’t know how to respond to that. Saying “ _ The line on your throat sort of says otherwise _ ” didn’t seem like a good idea, so she just waited, hoping Ciri would elaborate. Thankfully, she did.

“I thought I was dreaming again. Stuck in a nightmare. I read once you can’t really die in a dream, so… I thought...“

“You were trying to wake yourself up?” Ciri nodded slowly. “Thank god Kristoff was quick enough then.”

“Yeah… hey Elsa?”

“Yes?”

“Did you really kill Harold?”

“I did.”

“How?”

Elsa hesitated, then figured that if anyone would understand, it would be Ciri. “I made him beg for mercy and then I cut his head off.”

Elsa really wasn’t sure what to expect. A solemn nod, a growled “Serves him right,” maybe. What she did not expect was a burst of hysterical laughter. Her whole body shook with the intensity of her laughter, and despite the fact that Elsa still felt a little uneasy about her actions, she started to giggle as well. When Ciri caught her breath, she twisted around and threw her arms around Elsa’s neck. “Thank you,” she said, still giggling a little. She kissed Elsa’s cheek, and then sat back, still holding on to Elsa but meeting her eyes now. There was a hint of the old Ciri there. “I know I shouldn’t be so happy about that, but…”

“I was a little concerned,” Elsa said, smiling back to let her know she was joking.

Ciri’s face grew more serious. “He did this,” she said, holding up her hands to show her ruined fingers. “But I don’t care. He killed Ben, and Brynn, and Ella, and- Tom.” Elsa noted the hesitation on Tom’s name, but again, did not press her. “The fact that… at the end, he was begging for mercy… after not giving it to them- he didn’t  _ need _ to kill them! There was no reason for it!” Ciri’s tone had turned upset, but Elsa took her hand again with both of hers. Ciri breathed deep, then continued. “I’m just glad he got what was coming to him is all.”

“I’m sorry it was a little late, Ciri.”

“It’s not your fault. You didn’t even know I was alive. I’m still not completely convinced I am… I never thought I’d see you again.”

“I thought so too.” Ciri lay back down on Elsa’s shoulder, but then raised her head again quickly with a small gasp. “What is it?”

“Laid on my eye.”

Elsa’s heart twinged with sympathy. “Oh, sweetheart. Move over here.” She patted the ground on her other side, and Ciri moved around and lay her head back down. Elsa put her hand gently over the more bruised side of Ciri’s face, then cooled her hand down gradually to a (hopefully) pleasant temperature.

“Ohhhhhh….” Ciri murmured. “That feels good. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” Elsa said, laying her cheek on top of Ciri’s head. “I should have thought of this sooner. Do you want me to ice your feet, or something?”

“No, this is okay.”

“Okay… Hey, there’s something I’ve been wondering.”

“Hmm?”

“How did you know that wasn’t Kristoff, back in the castle?”

“I didn’t.” 

Elsa froze. “... What…?”

Ciri started shaking. At first, Elsa thought she was crying again, but soon realized she was giggling. “I’m kidding, Elsa. I didn’t try to murder your brother in law, I promise.”

“That was mean,” Elsa scolded, giggling herself now. “But I’m glad to see you laugh.”

“Yeah, well… I wouldn’t get too used to it,” Ciri said, her tone turning bitter. 

“What does that mean?” Elsa asked, alarmed at how quickly Ciri’s mood flipped.

“Wait until I try to go to sleep. Even when they weren’t in my head… they were in my head.”

“Oh… Well-”

“I don’t want to think about that right now. I shouldn’t have said that. You asked a question. The answer is smell.”

“Smell?”

“He smelled bad.”

“And… that’s how you knew that Kristoff wasn’t Kristoff? How could you even tell?”

“Not the same bad that Kristoff smells,” Ciri chuckled, the bitterness fading. “Part of why I was so afraid it was a trick… still am, if I’m honest, was because it was that same man who pretended to be you, breaking me out. I thought you smelled weird at the time, but I was so happy to be getting out I didn’t think anything of it…. But it was just them. That’s when… Harold… my fingernails…”

“Oh, Ciri…”

“Anyway, when Kristoff came up, I smelled that same thing, and I just sort of… lost it.”

“No kidding… Are you okay, by the way? I should have asked.”

“No, I’m not okay, Elsa, really?”

“No, no, I mean… I mean… you killed a man. Are you okay?”

“I didn’t kill a man,” Ciri said, her tone icier than Elsa’s finest work. “I put down a dog.”

Elsa winced at the ruthlessness of her tone. “That’s… not like you, Ciri.”

“I don’t plan on making a habit of it, Elsa. I’m not a soldier. I never have been. But you of all people should know that some people deserve to die.”

“That I do,” Elsa conceded. 

Another silence fell for a while, then Ciri asked, “So… what happens now?”

“Well, assuming Heins did get Valefor, we’ll meet back up with the Queensguard and see what kind of trouble they’ve stirred up.”

“I meant… about me.”

“What about you?”

“Are you…”

Elsa realized where this was going. “You tell me. If you want to go somewhere safer, I’ll take you there. If you want to stay with us, I’ll never let them touch you again.”

Ciri hugged Elsa a little tighter, and Elsa ran her hand over Ciri’s back. Ciri started to say something twice, but stopped. Elsa waited patiently. She wasn’t even sure what she hoped Ciri would say. Half of her wanted to send Ciri far away where the Empire could never get their filthy hands on her, the other half wanted to never let the girl out of her sight the rest of her life.

“I don’t want to go…” Ciri said in hitching breaths, and Elsa realized she had begun softly crying again. Ciri’s hands clutched at Elsa’s clothes, huddling closer into her side like Elsa would push her away, and Elsa felt another wave of nausea at the sight of her empty nail beds. 

“Then you won’t.” Elsa suddenly remembered something, and she reached into her breast pocket. “Hey… look.” She held the rose in front of the two of them, and Ciri tensed up against her. Her hand trembled as she reached out, caressing the cracked petal, then she took it from Elsa’s hands. She started crying harder, clutching it to her chest, trying and failing to stammer out a thanks, as Elsa held Ciri, the day slowly fading into night.


	86. Crimes of the Empire: Heins - Experimentation

After it was clear that Ciri wasn’t up for travel that day, and given Elsa’s equal refusal to leave her side, the others decided to make the best of it and see what they could figure out about Valefor’s powers. Assuming, that is, that Heins had indeed obtained them. It really felt like he could remember speaking to a great flying beast, but at the same time, he could remember so few specifics that he’d had dreams he remembered more details of. And so, the three of them, Heins, Anna, and Kristoff, had set off to figure it out.

“Neither of us remember exactly how we got the powers,” Anna said. She was sitting in the shade of a copse of pine trees, her ankle propped up on a small rock column, courtesy of Kristoff. “And as far as we know, Elsa didn’t have to do anything,” she added, with only the tiniest hint of petty jealousy in her voice.

“Right. So the first thing to do is try to use them,” Kristoff said.

Heins just looked at him blankly. “Am I supposed to know how?”

“Uh… no.”

“Wow, very helpful,” Heins said. 

“Anna, what was Valefor’s thing again?”

“He was the pair to your Spirit, actually. Titan would provide the drive, and Valefor would provide the method. He thought his way around problems instead of facing them head on.”

“Well… that’s still not really helpful,” Heins muttered, to sympathetic shrugs from the others.

“Let’s start here,” Kristoff said, and he stamped his foot. A reasonably accurate sculpture of Hans erupted from the earth, around ten feet away. “Hit it.”

“How?”

“No idea. I didn’t consciously use my powers the first time.”

“Me either,” Anna offered from the ground. “Give it a shot.”

“Okay… don’t laugh.”

“We won’t,” they both said, very seriously. To their credit, no matter how foolish Heins felt as he waved his limbs about, trying to copy the brief glimpses he had gotten of Harold wielding the Spirit, neither of them so much as cracked a smile.

“This is no use,” Heins huffed, after an hour had passed, trying every thought and emotion and movement he could, Kristoff and Anna occasionally breaking the silence to offer a suggestion or two. No matter what he tried, he couldn’t get anything to happen to the statue. He flopped down in the grass near Anna. He knew he was sulking, but he couldn’t help it. “I don’t even know if I got the damn power or not.”

“Chin up, buddy,” Kristoff said, clapping a hand on Heins’s shoulder, taking a seat next to him. “Let’s think about this.” He held up four fingers, counting them out one by one. “Elsa, Shiva, compassion and love. Anna, Ifrit, anger and drive. Me, Titan, determination and strength. Heins, Valefor… what? Compassion and anger aren’t exactly opposites, but they sort of are. What’s the opposite of determination? No, that can’t be right.”

“Probably not,” Anna agreed. “Not opposite, complementary. Pure compassion is self-sacrifice, pure anger is destructive. Both need at least a bit of the other to really be effective. Pure determination is stubbornness, or single mindedness. What complements determination? Or rather, what is needed to temper the stubbornness?”

“Thoughtfulness? Or… ingenuity, maybe, so that you’re not just pushing up against a wall, you’re actually making progress?”

“The past hour isn’t great support for that,” Heins sighed. “Besides, you all use emotions, in one form or another. What emotion is ‘ingenuity’?” No one had an answer for that. “Unless… what if it’s not determination that Valefor is the complement of, what if it’s strength? What’s the complement to strength?”

“Flexibility,” Anna said at once. “There was once a strongman exhibit that passed through Arendelle when I was a child. The man could pick up a thousand pounds but couldn’t reach his own butt to scratch it.” She giggled. “I asked mother what he did when his butt itched. She told me that was what the assistants were for.”

Kristoff and Heins both chuckled, and then Heins said, “That might be, but I can’t think of an emotion for that either.”

“Hmm… Okay, then what about this?” Without warning, Anna flung her good hand forward, and a small ball of flame came flying at Heins. As he recoiled in fear and alarm, throwing up his hands to protect his face, he felt something, a power, surge through him, from his heart to his fingertips. There was an eerie, uncomfortable rushing sensation, as though all the blood had been forced to his hands, and then a burst of air erupted from them, scattering the flames harmlessly around him. He overbalanced and tipped over, landing on his back, looking up at the sky.

“Anna!” Kristoff bellowed. “Stop using fire to get people to use their powers!”

“Well it worked, didn’t it!?”

“That should be plan Z, not plan A!”

“It wasn’t plan A, it was plan B!”

“Same thing!”

As Kristoff and Anna continued to argue, Heins stared at his hands. He had done… magic. He had  _ magic _ . He sat up slowly, and Anna and Kristoff broke off, looking at him. Anna was beaming, and Kristoff was trying and failing to look stern with her. “Welcome to the club!” Anna exclaimed. “We should get jackets…”

“How did you know that would work?” Heins asked, still staring at his hands.

“It was a hunch. None of our powers work the same. Flexibility, ingenuity, thinking around problems rather than face them head on- you’re not meant to be the tip of the spear. You’re the shield.”

“What do you mean?”

“All the spirits worked together to overthrow the Ancients. None of them could do everything necessary to free themselves. Shiva, Ifrit, Titan- all three have something to do with moving forward, Shiva to help, Ifrit to hurt, and Titan to push through. Valefor is the last piece, the one who fills in the gaps, who keeps the others on track and protects them when they mess up.” She met Heins’s eyes with a cheeky grin. “In short, you’re our babysitter.”

“Great,” Heins said, rolling his eyes. “Does that mean I get to put you in time-out?”

Anna’s face fell, and Kristoff and Heins both grinned. She hadn’t foreseen that consequence. “No, because… shut up.” 

“That’s no way to talk to your babysitter, Anna,” Kristoff chastised.

“That’s it, young lady, go to your room!” Heins said, with all the pompous authority he could muster.

“I will set you on fire, Heins,” Anna warned playfully.

“What, again?” Heins regretted those words the instant they left his lips, remembering how guilty she felt for the accident. Anna reeled back like she’d been slapped, and her mouth dropped open. Kristoff looked wide-eyed between Heins and Anna, his body frozen. “Anna, no, I’m sorry,” Heins stammered, moving towards her, to comfort her, but as he did, a grin spread across her face.

“ _ Damn _ , Heins! That was colder than  _ Elsa! _ ” She laughed so hard she tipped over, wincing a bit as she landed on the ground, but continued in gales of laughter. Heins and Kristoff had joined in, their laughter echoing through the trees. When they eventually caught their breath, Anna, still chuckling, said, “Well, I suppose that was only fair. A  _ burn _ for a  _ burn _ . Eh? Eh?” 

Kristoff and Heins just looked at her. “Yeah, you killed it sweetie,” Kristoff deadpanned. 

“Oh, shut up,” she said, throwing a twig at him, then she looked over at Heins. “So, you did it. Think you can do it again?”

“Don’t you throw another fireball at me,” Heins warned.

“I don’t plan on it.”

“Good.”

“I’m going to throw it at Kristoff instead.”

“Wait, what-?”

Without further preamble, sure enough, a fireball was making its way towards Kristoff. He stumbled back, throwing up his hands, and a pillar of earth sprang up between him and Anna. The fire splashed off it, scorching the dirt and rocks there. Heins hadn’t even had time to react. 

“ANNA!” Kristoff roared. “Dammit,  _ stop doing that! _ ” 

“You were supposed to let Heins do it!” Anna cried. 

“Oh, for crying out loud,” Kristoff groaned, and with a stomp of his foot he had encased Anna in ten foot high stone walls.

“Kristoff Bjorgman, you let me out of here this INSTANT!”

“Only if you stop throwing damn fireballs at us.”

“Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhh…… FINE.” With a gesture, Kristoff shoved the walls back into the ground. “Wimps,” Anna muttered.

“We heard that,” Kristoff said. Anna stuck her tongue out at him.

“You done, children?” Heins asked, shaking his head. “If you feel like helping me control an elemental Spirit and all…”

“Right, sorry,” Anna said. “Even though my husband is a wimp-”

“Not wanting to be set on fire is being a wimp?” Kristoff muttered. 

“ _ Ahem _ . As I was saying, though my husband is  _ overly cautious _ -” she said these words with raised eyebrows at her husband, who grinned and shook his head- “I do think I know how your powers work. I’ve been thinking about this for a while- since Titan, actually. About how the powers work, and the relationships between them. Mine and Elsa’s, and yours and Kristoff’s, are pairs of one another, right?”

“If you say so.”

Anna smirked. “They are. Ifrit and Shiva are the offensive ones. Anger and compassion both, for the Spirits’ enemies. Titan and Valefor are the defensive ones. Determination and protection both, for the Spirits themselves.”

“That makes sense,” Kristoff said, scratching his beard. “That’s how I learned to use mine, Heins- helping Anna to melt something of Elsa’s.”

“That doesn’t make sense, though- Harold damn sure wasn’t using it to protect anything.”

“It’s not the only way you can  _ use  _ it, Heins,” Anna corrected. “It’s how you  _ start  _ it. How you learn to feel where it is in your mind, and then you can use it for whatever.”

“Okay… So how do I protect something-” Anna opened her mouth- “ _ without _ setting anyone on fire?” Anna closed her mouth.

“Protect the statue,” Kristoff suggested, gesturing towards the statue of Hans. Anna and Heins glanced at each other. Heins clasped his hands behind his back and waited as Anna shot another fireball, much larger than the last, the force of which was strong enough to blast the statue into dust. Kristoff turned away and huddled down, his hands over his head, as dirt rained down on him. When the dust had settled, he stood up and brushed the dirt out of his hair. “Okay, okay, no Hans statue, jeez, you could have just asked me to change it.” He flicked his wrist, and a not-at-all flattering image of Anna burst from the ground. Her nose was smashed and upturned, and one finger was buried deep in the right nostril. Her hair stuck up in all directions and her lip was curled, like she smelled something terrible.

Kristoff had a smug grin on his face, and Heins snorted with laughter. He turned around just in time to see Anna finish running her hands through her hair so it stuck up, then she stuck a finger in her nose, pushing it up and picking it at the same time, then screwed up her face in a disgusted expression. “Aww, darling, it looks just like me!” she cried. The resemblance was uncanny. All three burst out laughing, Heins and Kristoff looking back and forth between the statue and Anna, who was making her face more and more ridiculous every time Heins looked back. Then, Heins looked back at Anna to see not a silly face, but a wistful smile.

“What’s up, Anna?” Heins asked, wiping away a tear.

“Nothing. It’s just… It’s not the first time I was making faces, and something got built.”

“What?”

Anna let out a melancholy sigh. “The very last night Elsa and I were together. Before the gates were closed. We were playing in the snow. I remember it being outside, but Elsa tells me we were in the ballroom. Courtesy of Grand Pabbie,” she said with a sad smile to Kristoff. “Anyway. I was making silly faces, and she was building snowmen that looked like them. That was the first time we built Olaf… I miss that little guy.”

“I do too,” Kristoff said.

“I wish I could have met him.”

“You’d have liked him, I’m sure,” Anna said, smiling more earnestly now. “But we’ve got a job out here.” She held up a hand, and a flame crackled there. “Ready, Heins?”

Heins looked at the statue, then at Kristoff. “Make it normal. Easier to pretend it’s really Anna, it might help.” The statue’s features shifted and swirled into a more accurate representation of the redhead. “Thanks.” Heins stared at the statue, pushing away the inconsistencies, the uniform color, the stillness, and tried to see Anna standing there, her hair gently swaying in the breeze, her eyes bright and cheerful. “Ready.”

The first fireball smashed into the statue without so much as a hint of Heins’s power. So did the next four. And then, on the fifth, something clicked. He no longer saw the statue, he saw Anna, standing there, looking around innocently, oblivious to the fiery death headed for her. He felt the power, a small, bright section of his mind, that when breached, flooded his body with light. He deflected the fireball almost lazily, sending it up into the sky with no more than a twitch of his wrist.

“Stop,” he commanded, then he knelt down, closing his eyes and concentrating, holding onto that bright light, thinking of nothing but protecting Anna, but then, when he had a hold of the power, he switched his goal. He opened his eyes and stood, thrusting out a fist. A burst of air erupted from his knuckles. It rushed across the ground, sending the grass rippling outward. When it reached the statue, it did not do as much as Heins had hoped, but it still managed to fleck off chunks of the dirt making it up.

“Nice job!” Kristoff exclaimed, clapping Heins on his shoulder, while Anna cheered from her seat by the tree.

“A little weak, though,” Heins muttered.

“Eh, don’t be so hard on yourself,” Kristoff said. “That comes with time. Try it again.”

As it turned out, it would take much more time than they had today for Heins’s control to improve. He could summon the magic almost without effort. Getting it to do anything more than a stiff breeze was the difficult problem. Anna and Kristoff had both struggled to breach that barrier between them and the magic, but once they did, the barrier shattered and their power was immense. Heins had a convenient door through that barrier, but it refused to open any wider. He wasn’t sure which dilemma he’d have preferred. When they took a break in the mid-afternoon, Anna raised a question.

“So I’ve been meaning to ask- any idea how Harold had Kristoff’s power too?”

“What do you mean, Anna?” Heins asked.

“How did he have Air and Earth? Didn’t he throw rocks at us out on the Spirit?”

It took a moment for Heins to realize her confusion. “Oh! No, he only had Air.” Anna and Kristoff both looked at him quizzically. “The Southern Isles are volcanic,” Heins explained.

“Ohhhh, I see,” Kristoff said, but Anna looked as confused as ever. “Wait- do I know something Anna doesn’t?” His tone had turned excited and eager, while Anna glared at him. “No way! I’m  _ always _ the one who doesn’t know something!”

“Kristoff,” Anna said sweetly, with a chilling bright smile plastered on her face. Heins turned to the side to hide his grin.

“All those princess classes and you never learned this?” Kristoff said in exaggerated disbelief.

“Spit it out, Kristoff, what does that have to do with anything?” Anna demanded.

“Calm down, feisty pants. Volcanic rock is called pumice- well, the main type is pumice, anyway. It’s insanely porous, like a sponge. It’s not very dense because of that- it even floats. He probably just lifted the air inside them. He must have really gotten those things moving to do that kind of damage to the Spirit.”

“That’s correct, Kristoff,” Heins said, a little impressed. “How did you…?”

“Grew up with trolls.” Kristoff shrugged. “I know far, far too much about basically every type of rock.”

“Got the right Spirit then, didn’t you?”

“Guess I did.” Kristoff fell silent, and his face grew contemplative. “So. Harold could fly.” He locked eyes with Heins. “Feeling brave?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anna, you damn pyro.


	87. Crimes of the Empire: Elsa - Rehabilitation

By the time the others returned, the sun was low on the horizon, and Elsa had managed to fool herself into thinking Ciri would be okay. She had been loosening up more and more as the day waned. Elsa figured it had something to do with her youth, being able to bounce back so quickly. She got a rude awakening when Heins, Anna, and Kristoff approached. At the sight of them, Ciri started shaking so badly that Elsa was initially afraid she was having some sort of fit. She buried her face in Elsa’s side, letting out small squeals of fright, cradling her head in her hands, beside herself with terror. Elsa waved the others away as she tried to calm Ciri down with whispered assurances, but Ciri was gone, back in the pit, with whatever nightmares she had been given there. It took almost forty-five minutes for her to calm down enough to stop trembling, and seem to actually hear what Elsa was saying. 

“Ciri? Are you back with me?”

Most of Ciri’s face was still hidden in Elsa’s side, but her eye was darting around, and she muttered, “Where am I?”

“You’re on the mainland- near Arendelle, I think. We got you out of the Southern Isles last night.”

Ciri’s eye raised up to meet Elsa’s, and Elsa thought she could actually see Ciri come back to herself. A spark returned to her eye, and she frowned. “Elsa?”

“It’s me, Ciri,” Elsa whispered. “Are you okay now?”

“I… think so…. What happened?”

“I don’t know. Anna, Heins, and Kristoff came back, and you sort of… panicked.”

“I did?”

“You don’t remember?” Ciri shook her head, and Elsa saw tears well up in her eye. “Hey, it’s okay, Ciri.”

“What’s wrong with me?” Ciri whimpered.

Elsa had to stop herself before she said “Nothing.” It was a lie, a poor and transparent lie at that. Instead, she sighed, “I don’t know, Ciri.” Ciri hugged Elsa a little tighter, and a gasp of pain escaped Elsa before she could suppress it.

“Oh! Are you okay?”

“It’s nothing, Ciri,” Elsa said, trying to keep her voice level. “I broke my ribs when the Spirit went down, that’s all.”

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” At once, Elsa felt Ciri try to draw away from her, but Elsa held her tight and didn’t let her.

“It’s fine, Ciri. Just don’t squeeze me too tight, okay?”

“Okay… I’m sorry-”

“Stop. You didn’t know.” Elsa looked out at the horizon. A sliver of the sun still shone over the sea, but it would set very soon. “Ciri, I need to talk to the others. Do you want to come with me, or do you want to stay here?”

“Where are they?”

Elsa pointed off to the north. “Over there somewhere.”

Ciri took a deep breath. “I’ll come with. Whatever happened before, I need to get past it, but… can you stay near me? Please?”

“Of course.” Elsa climbed to her feet, wincing as she put weight on her locked up knee. Sitting all day had done it no favors, and then, as she tried to stretch it out, she heard a growl- low, rumbling, and dangerous, coming from somewhere close. Her eyes darted around, searching for the source, magic building in her palm, ready to release it at whatever beast leapt from the shadows, and then she noticed Ciri, looking embarrassed. “Was that  _ you? _ ”

“I’m hungry…”

_ Oh, shit.  _ She hadn’t even thought of that. “When’s the last time you ate?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Oh my god, Ciri, I’m so sorry. Come on, we’ll get you something to eat.” Ciri pushed herself up, wincing as the grass and twigs pressed into her feet. “Oh, you poor thing, c’mere,” Elsa sighed. She put Ciri’s arm around her shoulders and lifted, bearing some of Ciri’s weight. Her knee throbbed, but she didn’t care. Together, they hobbled their way towards where Elsa knew the others to be. They hadn’t gone very far, and Elsa heard the crackling campfire before she saw it. She could feel Ciri beginning to tremble as their voices became audible, and slowed to a stop.

“Ciri, look at me.” She did. “Just keep looking at me. You’re here. I’ve got you.” Ciri nodded shakily. 

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Ciri muttered again, clasping her hands to try to stop the tremors. “I don’t think I’m not out anymore, not really. It’s been too long, and the little things that don’t add up in dreams aren’t happening. Why am I afraid of them? It makes no sense. I love them!”

“I know you do, sweetheart… Fear doesn’t make sense. It’ll pass. I promise.”

“How do you know?”

“I know because I went through something similar.”

“You did?”

“I did. I know what it’s like to have someone in your mind. Making you see things that aren’t there. Hurting you…” Elsa swallowed, a lump growing in her throat. “When I got these-” she held up her arms to show the ropy scars that still crossed them- “it wasn’t just these. The Dreamwalker, he… made me see things. Do things. I almost killed Kristoff and Alan when they came to save me, because I thought they were attacking me and Anna.”

“How did you get over it?”

“Who says I did? ...Listen,” Elsa sighed, and carressed Ciri’s cheek with her palm. “I still have nightmares about it sometimes. This will be with you as long as you live. I’ve never completely gotten over it. You learn to live with it. But you don’t have to do it alone. I’ll be with you, every step of the way. So will the others.”

“Once I can face them, anyway,” Ciri muttered bitterly, but then she nodded. “Okay,” she said, sounding as determined as Elsa could hope for, and then, their hands entwined, the two of them stepped into the small clearing, and the three around the campfire fell silent

“Hey Elsa,” Anna said cautiously, sitting up a little straighter. “Ciri okay?”

“She’s fine,” Elsa said. It was a bald-faced lie, but it was true enough, she hadn’t yet fully retreated into herself like before, though her hand was squeezing Elsa’s so hard it might just break bone soon. She was half hidden behind Elsa, her breathing growing quick and shallow, face downturned. Elsa led the way to a log near the fire and sat down. Ciri sat next to her, her leg pressing up against Elsa’s and her upper body huddled against her. “You’re doing great, Ciri,” Elsa murmured. Raising her voice, she said, “Ciri hasn’t eaten in… well, I don’t know how long. Can one of you-”

“I’m on it,” Heins said at once. He dug around in his pack and pulled out a few strips of jerky. He passed those to Elsa, then said, “Get started on that while I make something more filling.” Elsa passed one of the strips to Ciri, who took it with her free hand and started nibbling on the end, not looking around. Elsa, Kristoff, and Anna exchanged a sad glance, then watched in silence as Heins threw some vegetables into a pot. He held it up expectantly to Elsa, who filled it with loose snow, then he hung it on a hook over the fire. In a few minutes, he had a bubbling pot of stew. He’d pulled a bit more preserved meat out of his pack and added that as well, along with some spices he’d managed to scavenge from the Southern Isles while they were preparing for the attack. Until she smelled the rich, savory aroma, Elsa hadn’t realized how ravenously hungry she was. 

Anna and Kristoff both looked like they wanted to continue talking, but were afraid of setting Ciri off again, and so they waited in silence while the stew cooked, the crackling of the fire and the scraping of the wooden spoon on the bottom of the small pot the only sounds. “Elsa,” Ciri breathed, so quietly Elsa thought she imagined it at first. When she realized she hadn’t, she bent down and Ciri whispered something in her ear before hiding her face again.

“Are you sure?” she whispered. Ciri nodded. Elsa sat up and raised her voice. “Guys. Can you come over here, please?” As they all looked over, Elsa mouthed, “ _ Slowly _ .” They nodded and ambled over in front of Elsa and Ciri, then stood there, unsure of what to do. Without looking up, Ciri stretched a trembling hand out towards them, where she held it, quivering, fingers outstretched, palm down. Elsa nodded to the others, who tentatively reached their own hands out. The three of them took her hand, and at their touch, Ciri shook harder than ever, and frightened noises escaped her lips, but she did not pull her hand away. 

There was silence for another moment, then Ciri’s fingers bent, flexing to close around the others, gripping them tight. She pulled them a little closer, and moved her other hand, the one clutching Elsa, bringing them both in front of her chest. After a moment, all five of them had their hands clasped together, huddled around Ciri, and Ciri started to cry. She was still trembling, and Elsa could tell she was still afraid, but just like she had on the archway in the caverns, just like she did after the Spirit went down- she was still moving. With what seemed like tremendous effort, Ciri raised her head, and looked at Anna, Kristoff, and Heins. She took slow, deep breaths as they smiled at her, waiting for her to speak, and then she said, in a voice just above a whisper, “Thank you for saving me. I’m sorry for everything. I’m doing the best I can.”

Thankfully, no one protested the apology. Elsa knew full well they all wanted to, but they all let it stand. Instead, they accepted it, told her how glad they were she was back, and left it at that, then let go of Ciri’s hand and moved away, each smiling to themselves. Elsa could feel Ciri relax, and she hadn’t even noticed how tightly her jaw had been clenched the whole time. “You did great,” Elsa whispered. “You’ll get there.” Ciri nodded, a tiny, jerky motion, but it was still agreement. Elsa smiled.

The stew was fantastic, but maybe it was just that Elsa was starving. Heins made to pass Elsa both bowls, like he had with the jerky, but Ciri held out her hand, and Heins placed her bowl in it. Elsa and Heins exchanged a surprised, but pleased, smile. 

Kristoff and Heins raised their tents. Kristoff and Anna retired to theirs, and then Heins put up another, smaller than the other two. Ciri stared at it, terror etched onto her face. Heins came over and asked, “You all set, honey?”

“I think so. Good night. I love you.” She raised her face to his, and he gave her a soft kiss.

“Love you too.” He hesitated, then said, “Good night, Ciri.”

She didn’t reply, but he didn’t seem offended. She continued staring at the smaller tent, fear turning to surprise when Heins bent down and entered that one, rather than the larger. Her face fell, which Elsa didn’t expect.

“What? You didn’t want to sleep alone in there, did you?”

“You didn’t have to tell him to do that,” Ciri whispered, sounding guilty. 

Elsa smiled. “I didn’t.”

“You didn’t? But-”

“We’re all on Team Ciri, sweetheart. None of us would dream of having you try to sleep alone right now.”

Ciri dropped her eyes to the ground, and once more, tears began to fall, but for the first time since the pit, they were not tears of sorrow, or fear, but of happiness. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ciri will be alright, guys. Everyone's got her back.


	88. Crimes of the Empire: Kristoff - Bad Night

“Morning, Kristoff!”

Anna’s cheery voice cut through Kristoff’s slumber like a knife. “Ughhh… Do you have to be so loud in the morning?”

“Only on days that end in -y!” Kristoff groaned again and opened an eye. Anna’s face was inches from his, and she was beaming. “Hey sleepy-head!”

“Hey.”

“Time to get up!”

“How in the world are you this awake?” Kristoff grumbled, rolling over to turn away from her.

“What do you mean?”

“Seriously? You slept through all that?”

“Slept through all what?” Anna asked, in genuine befuddlement.

Kristoff turned back over to face Anna. “Ciri. She must have woken me up a half dozen times last night. Screaming.”

The smile faded from Anna’s face, replaced by a deeply upset frown. “Really?” she mumbled. “I didn’t hear her.”

“Yeah. First time I thought she was being attacked.” He had to suppress a shudder. He had not heard such heartwrenching terror in a scream in a very long time. In fact, he didn’t think he ever had.

“Those fucking bastards,” Anna muttered, anger now replacing her sadness. “She’s not a threat to the Empire at all, and they do that to her.”

“Yeah… But she’s alive,” Kristoff said, trying to sound optimistic. In truth, he was as angry as Anna was..

Anna smiled. “Yeah… you’re right. That’s what matters.” She scooted closer and gave Kristoff a kiss. “Thanks.”

A short while later, the two of them left the tent. Heins sat against a tree near the smoldering remains of the campfire. He looked like he hadn’t slept any more than Kristoff had- probably less. He looked at them with bleary eyes. His gaze swapped from Kristoff to Anna and back again. “Did she sleep through that all?”

“Yep,” Kristoff sighed, helping Anna sit down. “Take it you slept as well as I did.”

“Probably not,” Heins said through a yawn. “It’s a miracle I slept at all.”

“Not easy to fall asleep after that,” Kristoff agreed, sitting down on the other side of Anna, who slipped her hand into his and leaned her head on his shoulder.

“I can’t believe I slept through it,” she said quietly. 

“Better that way,” Heins said. “It wasn’t fun to listen to.”

“I take it they’re still in there?” Kristoff asked, nodding towards Elsa’s tent. Heins nodded, “We might need to get them up soon. I hate to rush Ciri- I really do. But we need to keep moving. We need to get back to Ignis’s and see if they’ve managed to learn anything.”

“I want to see if the Queensguard was able to stir up some trouble, too,” Anna added.

Heins grinned. “Don’t you worry about that. They did, I guarantee it. They've been doing that for near on two years now. And you’re right Kristoff, but there’s a few problems with that. Let me see if they’re awake first.” Heins got to his feet, crossed the camp to Elsa’s tent and poked his head in. Kristoff could hear he was talking, but couldn’t make out any of what he was saying. A few seconds later, he turned around. “They’re getting up now,” he said as he crossed the camp back to Anna and Kristoff.

“What were those problems you mentioned?”

“We’re not going to be moving very quick with Ciri’s feet and Anna’s ankle like that. We need horses.”

“That’s a fair point,” Kristoff admitted. “I didn’t think about that.”

“I don’t exactly know where we are-”

“I do,” Kristoff interrupted. “We’re in Arendelle, and there’s nowhere in Arendelle I don’t know.”

“Know anywhere we could get horses?” Anna asked.

“Enough for everyone? No. One or two? Sure.”

“Two should be enough,” Heins mused. “Elsa and Ciri on one, Anna on the other. Kristoff, you’ll be on foot.”

“What about you?” Kristoff asked, without thinking. Heins grinned and floated into the air, then flipped upside down, hovering with his head at eye level, a broad smile on his face. “Oh yeah. Asshole.”

“Hey, you’re the one that got me to try it yesterday, you’ve got no one to blame for this but yourself.” Heins flipped back over and landed on the ground with a chuckle.

“Yeah, but you weren’t supposed to be this good at it already,” Kristoff grumbled, while Anna laughed. 

Heins shrugged. “Only part I’m good at so far, unfortunately.”

“You can  _ fly _ , Heins, do you have any idea how jealous I am?” Anna demanded. 

“Sure,” Heins said bitterly, “but what good is that against Hans? I can dodge slightly more effectively. Hooray.”

“Oh relax, Heins,” Anna said. “You’ll get stronger, we all did, you’ll be fine. We’re not fighting Hans today.”

“I guess so,” Heins relented, but he still seemed a little down. Before Kristoff could try to cheer him up, the tent flap opened up behind him, and Elsa stepped out, sans Ciri. If Kristoff felt tired, and Heins looked tired, Elsa looked like she had one foot in the grave. There were big bags under her bloodshot eyes. Her lips were parted, as though it took too much energy to close them, and she blinked very slowly, having to fight to lift her eyelids with every one.

“Hey,” she mumbled, shuffling towards them.

“Is Ciri okay?” Anna asked.

“Relatively,” Elsa said, stumbling towards Heins and falling against him, closing her eyes and resting her head on his shoulder. “Wanted to talk to you guys. She wasn’t up for it.”

“You might be in luck, Els,” Kristoff said. “Princess Aurora over here slept like a stump, and we’re not traveling today- well, you’re not, anyway.”

Elsa’s eyes crept open and she frowned at Kristoff, apparently unwilling- or unable- to muster the strength to ask what he meant verbally.

“Me and Heins are going to go get some horses for Anna and Ciri, and you, now that I think about it, your knee is still messed up, right?” A slow nod. “You go back to sleep, Anna can keep an eye on Ciri and wake you up if she needs anything.”

“Bold of you to assume I’d be going  _ back _ to sleep,” Elsa muttered. 

“Did Ciri sleep?” Anna asked, with a sympathetic grimace.

“Yeah… few hours at least.”

“That’s good.” Elsa nodded.

“I’m glad she got some rest. But I wouldn’t say no to some sleep myself if you don’t mind, Anna.”

“Not at all, but will she be okay with that?”

“I think so… she can stay near me if she’s more comfortable that way, I just want someone awake in case she has another panic attack.” She glanced back, to check if Ciri had come out, then added in a whisper, “I wouldn’t put it past her to try to tough it out quietly to let me sleep, I don’t want that to happen.”

“That works.”

“Before you go back to sleep,” Heins said, grinning. “Check this out!” He bent his knees and jumped, backflipping once before continuing to rise into the air, floating around five feet over Elsa. She peered up at him, frowning in confusion. Very slowly, she looked down at herself, then pinched her arm.

“Ow.” She turned her gaze back up to Heins, who was chuckling at Elsa’s tired bemusement. “Cool. You’re flying.”

“Very astute observation, sis,” Anna giggled. 

“Nothing gets past you, does it Els?”

“Shuddup. I’m tired.”

Heins landed next to Elsa and gave her a kiss. “I know you are, honey. Go back to sleep.”

“‘mkay.” Elsa staggered back to the tent and went inside, pinning the flap open. Kristoff could see her talking to Ciri and pointing back outside, towards Anna. Ciri seemed to hesitate, then Elsa shrugged, said something else, and fell face-first onto the cot. Kristoff was certain she was asleep before her head hit the small pillow. Before he looked away, he saw Ciri cover Elsa with a blanket.

“You going to be okay here on your own, sweetie?” Kristoff asked Anna.

“Yeah.”

“I’m a little worried about leaving them, Kristoff,” Heins said. “Elsa’s near dead with exhaustion, Anna’s hurt, and Ciri’s useless in a fight in the best of circumstances, never mind now.”

“We’ll be fine,” Anna insisted. “No one knows we’re here. Just go, and hurry back.”

“She’s right,” Kristoff said, though he wasn’t convinced himself. Still, it’d go faster with two, and time was of the essence. If they took too long, the fires of rebellion would flicker out, and they needed to fan them, not let them die out. He leaned over and kissed Anna goodbye, then stood up. “Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tired Elsa is so adorable.


	89. Crimes of the Empire: Ciri - Shaky First Steps

Ciri had managed to somehow sleep both better and worse than she expected. Her nightmares were intense and unrelenting. She woke screaming many times during the night, the feel of claws in her body, the scent of burning flesh, the glowing eyes and dripping fangs shining in the moonlight reluctantly fading from her mind. Every single time she awoke, saturated in panic and adrenaline, Elsa was there, already awake, holding Ciri, grounding her, acting as an anchor to reality. It was only because of this that Ciri was able to get any sleep at all.

Unfortunately, what she didn’t realize until the morning was the method by which Elsa was always awake when she woke. Elsa simply stayed awake all night. Ciri had thought she moved around or made noises while still asleep, waking Elsa before herself. But when she woke (mercifully without screaming) for the last time this night, her pillow in Elsa’s lap and Elsa’s arms around her, the bags under her bloodshot eyes told her that wasn’t the case.

“Good morning, Ciri,” Elsa said, looking down at her with a smile tinged with fatigue. Her voice was scratchy with exhaustion, and guilt swelled up in Ciri’s stomach.

“Did you sleep at all?”

“Yes.” It was not convincing. “No,” Elsa sighed. 

“I’m-”

“No. Don’t. Was worth it to help you get some rest.” It seemed to take tens of times the normal amount of energy for Elsa to speak. Her lips barely moved, and her eyes only ever half-opened.

Ciri wrapped her arms around Elsa’s middle. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“Welcome…”

“Good morning, ladies.” Heins’s head poked in through the flap, and Ciri huddled closer to Elsa, trying to quell the panic.  _ It’s just Heins, he’s not going to hurt you, it’s just Heins, he’s not going to hurt you... _ “Sorry,” Heins mumbled, sounding guilty.

“S’okay,” Elsa said. Ciri could feel Elsa’s hand stroking her back, comforting. “We’re getting up.” Heins withdrew, and Ciri let out the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. “Ciri, I need to talk to them. D’you wanna…?”

“N-no,” Ciri squeaked. “Go, I’ll be fine.”

“‘kay.”

Elsa broke away from Ciri, struggled to her feet, swayed slightly, then got changed. As she pulled her shirt over her head, Ciri got her first clear look at Elsa’s back. She had only gotten vague impressions of the extent of her scarring, through the small portions that showed on her neck and arms, or the feel of them when she hugged Ciri. Ciri was shocked to see how severe they really were. The scars criss crossed each other so much that there were portions of her back that were nothing but scar tissue. Her pale skin seemed to glow compared to the darker, leathery surface of the lattice, peeking through like stars in the night sky. Elsa turned around, too quickly for Ciri to avert her gaze in time.

“Sorry,” Ciri muttered.

“No need,” Elsa waved her apology aside with a weary gesture. “Back in a second.” Eyes still half closed, Elsa stumbled out of the tent. Ciri drew her legs up and put her arms around them, the way she would sit in the pit, something she started to think of as her shell. She wasn’t even sure why. It’s not like it ever did anything to protect her. She stretched her fingers out, staring at the raw flesh where her fingernails used to be.  _ It could have been worse _ . Somehow, this thought wasn’t very comforting. Then again, as she thought about it, if Elsa could overcome her trauma… why couldn’t Ciri?

“Hey,” Elsa mumbled as she came back into the tent. “Guys going… horses. Gonna try... sleep. Anna’s out there if you wanna…” Elsa gestured vaguely towards the flap. A surge of panic shot through Ciri, and she shook her head. It was too sudden, she wasn’t ready. “Up to you. I’m gonna…” Before Elsa had even finished the thought, she was face planting onto the small cot. Ciri smiled, despite the still diminishing panic, and pulled a blanket over Elsa. She hesitated, then placed a soft kiss on top of Elsa’s head.

“Thank you,” Ciri whispered.

She spent the next hour imagining an interaction with Anna. Even the mere thought was enough to cause her pulse to quicken, her breathing to shallow, her limbs to tingle with fear. Alongside the fear, a frustration grew. What the hell was  _ wrong _ with her? When she looked around, looked at herself, looked at Elsa, she knew-  _ knew _ , that she was in fact out, and this was not some trick. But her heart refused to believe it. 

_ We thought that once before, _ her heart seemed to say.  _ Why don’t you ask your fingers how that went? _

_ It’s been days! _ her mind protested.

_ What difference does that make? It’s all a trick, you’re still in the pit. Harold will be coming by any moment, the deformed man will let you wake up and then he’ll hurt you, for real this time, not just your fingernails, but your whole fingers, your ears, your nose, anything he can chop off without killing you, Elsa’s back will look like an artistic marvel once Harold’s done with you- _

_ I’m OUT, _ her mind insisted stubbornly.  _ They can’t hurt us anymore, and all you’re doing is hurting Anna and the others by treating them like they’re about to attack us. _

“Enough of this,” Ciri muttered. “Anna’s not going to hurt you. Get out there.” She got to her feet, expecting pain, but was surprised to find they only ached, rather than sending the spikes of agony through her body. She limped over to the flap and made to exit, but froze. She could see Anna sitting out there, against a tree, one arm behind her head, her eyes closed, tapping her foot to a song only she could hear. Ciri closed her eyes, trying to encourage herself.  _ It’s fine! It’s just Anna. Go outside. Go. _

She didn’t move.

_ Come on! Move! _

She didn’t move.

_ What the hell are you so afraid of? MOVE! _

She didn’t move.

It was a lost cause. She opened her eyes, meaning to turn around and go back into the tent. Instead, her breath caught, and she pulled back from the opening- Anna was looking at her.

“Ciri,” Anna called. “You can come sit with me if you want to.” 

_ Dammitdammitdammitdammitdammit. _

She inched out of the flap again. Anna was still looking at her, her face lit up with a warm smile. She gave a tiny wave with her fingers.  _ MOVE! _

Ciri moved. The steps were tiny, and she was clasping her hands so tightly in front of her chest that her knuckles were white, and her jaw was clenched so hard she was a little afraid she might actually break a tooth, but she moved. Anna waited without speaking or rushing Ciri as she moved at a glacial pace, but eventually, she made it to Anna and sat down next to her, a few feet to Anna’s right. She couldn’t stop herself from going back into her shell, but she had made it out of the tent. Her heart was thundering in her chest, and fear coursed through her veins.  _ WHY am I so afraid? It’s ANNA! _

“Didn’t sleep well?” Anna asked, looking at her with such kindness in her eyes that it made Ciri feel worse that she was being so cold to her.

Ciri tried to say, “No,” but the word wouldn’t come. Her breath caught in her chest, and her mouth twitched as it tried to form the word, but it was no good. Instead, she just shook her head.

“I’m sorry.”

“...”

“How are you feeling?”

_ I’m okay _ , Ciri tried to say, but she still couldn’t force out the words.  _ Just say something! _

“Hey Ciri,” Anna said, a mischievous timbre entering her voice. “If Elsa’s a big doodoo head, don’t say anything.”

This was so unexpected, for a moment Ciri forgot all about her fear, and burst into giggles. 

“Well, you didn’t say anything,” Anna chuckled. “I guess it’s confirmed.”

Ciri giggled again. The moment of levity had broken through something, and Ciri felt the clench of fear around her heart loosen its grip. Not completely, but enough that she thought she might be able to speak now.

“I’m sorry I hurt you,” Ciri managed to say in a hoarse whisper, wrenching her gaze to Anna.

“Huh?” Anna said, bemused.

“On the boat. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“Oh,” Anna sighed, realization dawning on her face. “Don’t sweat it. I was way more worried about you.”

Ciri realized that only Elsa knew the truth of Ciri’s intentions. She closed her eyes, taking several deep breaths. It was like she was bobbing in the ocean during a storm. She needed to keep calm, or she’d drown, but it wasn’t easy when the waves kept crashing over her. “I-” the explanation caught in her throat. She buried her face in her arms, trying to recenter herself.

A beastly claw touched her on the shoulder. Ciri’s good eye flew open, and a scream leapt to her lips, then she threw herself away from it, scrambling away on all fours in the dirt. Her breath came in short, panicked gasps, and she chanced a look over her shoulder, to see how close the monster was-

And all that she saw was Anna, her mouth hanging open, her hand still outstretched where she had tried to comfort Ciri, looking shocked and upset. The next moment, Elsa burst out of the tent, tired eyes darting from side to side.

“It’s okay, Elsa,” Anna said quickly, as Ciri cowered, her hands over her head, trying to calm down and get a grip-

“What happened?” Elsa demanded.  _ Come on, Ciri, get it together. _

“I- I was trying to help, to comfort her, but when I touched her-”  _ See, she was trying to help, it’s fine, calm down. _

“So she’s okay? You’re okay? Physically, I mean.”  _ She didn’t hurt you, she didn’t turn into a monster, there are no monsters here, focus. _

“Yes.”  _ Pull yourself together! _

“Okay… Ciri? Can you hear me?”  _ Say something. You can do this. _

“I’m… fine,” Ciri said.  _ Now sit up. Come on, do it _ . She did. Her breath was shaky, her shoulders trembling, but she sat up. “Just startled.”

“I’m so sorry, Ciri-” Anna began, but she fell abruptly silent. Ciri guessed Elsa had signaled her to shut up. Ciri was grateful for that. She didn’t want to hear Anna apologize for doing nothing wrong. Ciri stood up, as dignified as she could manage, trying to straighten her back, to set her face. As Elsa and Anna both watched, she returned to where Anna was and sat down next to her again. She yearned to retreat into her shell, but she refused to allow herself to.

“Go back to sleep, Elsa,” Ciri said. She was fighting as hard as she could to keep her voice level, but she could still hear a tremble as she spoke.  _ Why am I so fucked up? _

Elsa smiled at Ciri, and there was something else about her expression that Ciri couldn’t quite read. She turned around and went back into the tent.

Ciri glanced at Anna. Her brow was furrowed, and she was pointedly avoiding eye contact. Ciri didn’t think she could manage to say anything else just now, so instead, she slowly reached out a hand towards Anna. She looked at it, moving between Ciri’s face and her outstretched hand, before taking it, her grip loose in case Ciri tried to pull away. Ciri had to wrestle down the urge to yank her hand back at the contact. Thankfully, Anna seemed to understand the gesture.

“Thanks, Ciri.” Anna smiled. “You don’t feel like talking, do you?” Ciri shook her head. “Do you want to listen to a story?” Ciri nodded. Anna’s smile widened. “Let’s see… did I ever tell you about the time I took Elsa fishing?”


	90. Crimes of the Empire: Heins - Atrocity

“I didn’t expect that kind of… carnage,” Heins muttered, as he and Kristoff rode the horses back towards their camp. 

“We knew it would happen,” Kristoff said, but he looked just as troubled. “The Empire was never going to take rebellion lightly. Let’s just be glad these two got out,” Kristoff said, patting his horse on the neck.

“Yeah… I guess. But what are we supposed to do? How can we keep fighting if-”

“Don’t talk like that,” Kristoff cut across. “Don’t. We can’t let this stop us. We knew this might happen. We can’t let it be for nothing. We  _ can’t _ , Heins.”

“Yeah… I get it.”

They rode in uncomfortable silence the rest of the way back. It was a gorgeous day, one of the finest Heins could remember. Wispy clouds drifted lazily across a bright blue sky. The gentle breeze blowing through the trees cast shifting, mottled shadows across the forest floor, and birds chirped from all around them. It made the horrific scene they left behind even more surreal. 

Eventually, they arrived back at the small camp. Opposite Elsa’s tent, Anna and Ciri sat on the ground. Ciri’s back was to them, but Anna saw them, and raised a hand to stop them just outside the small clearing. Heins and Kristoff pulled on the reins, bringing both mounts to a halt, while Anna muttered something to Ciri, to which Ciri shook her head.

“It’s okay,” Anna called. 

Heins only nodded to Anna, and to Kristoff, he muttered, “Try not to upset Ciri too much.” They dismounted and tied the pair of horses to a tree. Kristoff approached Anna, a little hesitant so as to not startle Ciri, but she seemed a little more resilient today. He sat down on Anna’s other side with a heavy sigh, and Anna looked over at him with concern. Heins, meanwhile, made a beeline for Elsa’s tent.

He made his way through the opening, unpinning it as he did so that the flap fell back into place. Elsa lay on the cot, who, while asleep and looking disheveled, looked a damn sight nicer than what he had just seen. He sat down next to her, trying not to wake her, but to no avail. A small smile spread across her lips, which for some reason, only made Heins more sad.

“Mmm. Hey Heins,” she whispered, opening her eyes, which immediately filled with worry. Her smile vanished, replaced with a look of concern. “What’s wrong?” she asked, sitting up quickly and twisting her upper body around to face him. He didn’t answer right away, he just pulled her into a tight hug. She wrapped her arms around him, one hand running along the back of his neck and his hair. “What happened?”

He tried to tell her, but he choked on the words. The tears were coming in earnest now, and he sobbed into Elsa’s shoulder as she held him. He could still see them, as clearly as he could see this tent right now. An entire village, slaughtered to the last soul. Dozens of lives extinguished. Men lay dead in the streets, blood congealing in the mud around them. Young lovers were wrapped in each other’s arms, killed while trying to shield the other from the arrows raining down on them. Women, sprawled on the floor in front of their butchered children. Then the tree...

Heins began to catch his breath, and he felt Elsa pull away from him, though she did not let go of him, just leaned back to look at him. “What happened, Heins?” she whispered.

Heins swallowed. “The village… where we went to get horses… They were all dead. All of them. Dozens. Even the children…”

“Oh my god,” Elsa gasped, clapping a hand to her mouth, tears spilling from her eyes now.

“It was a fucking message,” Heins spat. 

“What do you mean?” 

“It was for us. They…” Heins closed his eyes, taking a breath to try to contain the rage and horror swirling in his chest. “One of the trees. They hung people. Made up to look like us. They… had our names carved into their chests.”

“How did the Empire even know we would be here?”

Heins shook his head. “I don’t think they did. There were signs of a fight- a bad one. There were some dead Empire soldiers there too. I think they were made an example of.” Elsa had closed her eyes, but now, when she opened them, the sadness Heins expected was not there. Instead, there was nothing but cool fire, an anger he’d never seen in her eyes before. The muscle in her jaw jumped. “Hey, you okay?” he asked nervously. 

“We have to end this. Whatever it takes.”

Heins nodded. “Can you travel?”

“Yes,” Elsa said as she got up, stretching her knee. “Start tearing down the tents. We leave as soon as possible.”

“Where to?”

“Ignis’s. Tell Kristoff to get Anna on a horse. Send Ciri in here, I’ll handle her for now. No time for anything more delicate. We’ll ride one, Anna will ride the other.”

“Okay,” Heins said, standing and ducking out of the tent. Kristoff and Anna’s eyes were red, and Ciri looked shocked and horrified. “Tell them?” Heins asked, just to confirm.

“Yeah. We leaving?”

“Yes. Ciri, Elsa wants you in there.” She trembled a bit at his voice, but stood without delay and went into the tent. He wasn’t sure if she was obeying or fleeing. “Kristoff, help Anna onto a horse.”

“Where are we going?” Anna asked, as Kristoff pulled her to her feet.

“Ignis’s. Kristoff, can you have the Queensguard meet us there?”

“If we pass another town, I can.”  _ Assuming it hasn’t been wiped out as well _ . “The message can get to them within two days, usually faster, depending on where they are.”

“They can’t have made it that far,” Heins suggested. “We weren’t gone nearly as long as I thought we’d be. What’s it been, a week? It took us weeks to get from Arendelle to Weselton.”

“Week and a half or so,” Kristoff said over his shoulder as he led Anna towards the horses. “But that’s a long time for someone traveling light, especially if they managed to get horses. I can do forty miles a day if the weather’s fair, on foot, and hold that pace for days on end. When we were going to Weselton, we had a whole company, we were only going foot-speed, and we weren’t even traveling all day, plus Elsa’s injuries were a lot more debilitating then. They could have scattered to the four corners of the Empire by now, with time to spare.”

“Trust me, you can count on them having horses,” Heins called, as he started pulling up tent spikes. “We got good at that. Unfortunately,” he added under his breath. He hated stealing from the very people he was trying to help, but he’d long ago come to the realization that his honor and integrity would have to be tossed aside if they wanted to win.

“Then there’s no- three, two, one,  _ go _ ,” Kristoff grunted, hoisting Anna onto the saddle, then turned back to face Heins. “There’s no telling how far they got. And judging from that,” he said darkly, gesturing back towards the empty village, “they were at least partially successful at stoking a rebellion.”

“At what cost?” Anna said, nudging her horse forward a bit so the three of them could talk.

“We always knew it would come to this,” Kristoff said, a note of finality to his voice. “We can’t let it stop us. We can’t let it be for nothing.”

There was a rustling of fabric behind Heins, and he turned to see Elsa exiting the tent. “Ciri’s a little shook up,” Elsa said, rubbing her eyes. “But she said she thought she’d be okay today.” Elsa checked behind her, to make sure Ciri hadn’t come out, and dropped her voice. “She gets overwhelmed easily. Don’t touch her. Don’t even look like you’re going to touch her. Don’t pressure her to talk or anything. If she wants to talk, she will.” Heins nodded, as did Anna and Kristoff, and Elsa went back in the tent for a moment before emerging again, this time with Ciri in tow, their hands intertwined. Ciri’s eyes were downcast, but she was taking slow, deliberate breaths, and seemed dead set on keeping it together. Elsa led her to where Anna had been sitting that morning, got her to sit down, then helped Heins and Kristoff with the rest of the camp.

Once the camp had been torn down and packed up, Ciri and Elsa got on the other horse, and they set off.


	91. Crimes of the Empire: Anna - The Laboratory

The next week passed in an exhausting blur. Other than a quick stop in the next village, which was mercifully still standing, so that Kristoff could get the message to meet at Ignis’s spreading, they traveled from sunrise to sunset. Everywhere they went, there were signs of war. Convoys of Empire supplies plundered and set aflame, wandering patrols butchered in the night, freedom fighters swinging from trees. “I didn’t know there was this much anger still,” Anna muttered to Kristoff one evening, as they passed a row of Empire soldiers, strung up on a makeshift gallows.

“I knew there was anger,” Kristoff admitted. “But yeah… not this much. It doesn’t matter, though.”

“How can you say that?” Anna asked incredulously. “These people are dead bec-”

“Stop, Anna,” Kristoff said, and his tone was so forceful that she stopped mid-word. “Just stop. There’s no room for empathy right now.”

“But-”

“We have a job to do. Feel later.”

Anna glared at him. “You can be a real asshole sometimes.”

“I know.” The next time they passed evidence of the war, Anna focused on what Kristoff had said, and hardened her heart. She had to. She couldn’t let doubt cloud her drive.

Heins was practicing his powers every night, usually with Kristoff. Elsa and Anna participated on occasion, Elsa when Ciri felt particularly strong and could be without her for a while, and Anna when her injuries weren’t acting up too much. He was a natural in the air, performing stunning feats of acrobatics and grace- using his powers in combat, however, not so much. Any of the three others could rip him apart with hardly a thought if they were to fight for real, and all that he might be able to do is mess up their hair. The longer he practiced, the more frustrated he became, and despite brainstorming possible mental blocks every night, they could not figure out why he couldn’t gain much strength.

Elsa and Anna’s injuries finally healed near the end of their journey- not completely, but to the point that both could move around reasonably well on their own. Anna had forgotten what it was like to take a full breath without her ribs hurting, and she could use both hands again at last.

Ciri was improving too, bit by bit. She still screamed every night, but the amount of times each night was lessening, and Elsa said she was able to get a bit of sleep as well. Ciri still carried herself differently, with her shoulders hunched and her arms crossed in front of her stomach, and she didn’t make eye contact often, but she was at least able to respond to basic questions and didn’t shut down if someone got near her. According to Elsa, something much closer to the real Ciri would come out when it was just the two of them, and they were working together to overcome her fears. 

On the ninth day since leaving the Southern Isles, they arrived at the small laboratory Ignis called home. As soon as the building came into view, the hair on the back of Anna’s neck stood up. Though it was only early evening, there were no lights inside. She pulled her horse to a stop and looked around. Kristoff, Heins, and Elsa all felt it too. They were looking around suspiciously, hands on their weapons.

“Something’s wrong,” Anna muttered as she climbed off her horse. Elsa followed suit, then handed the reins to Ciri.

“Ciri, take the horses over there and wait for us. If something happens, take a horse and  _ run _ . We’ll find you.” Ciri nodded, wide-eyed, and did as she was told. “Spread out,” Elsa ordered. The four of them surrounded the lab, drawing their weapons as they did so. Anna held magic on the tips of her fingers, ready to release it if need be. Following Elsa’s lead, they crept forward. Anna’s instincts were going haywire, and she had to fight down the urge to flee. Anna made it to the outside wall, slid along it, and peeked in the window.

“No...” she breathed. The inside had been trashed. Overturned tables lay on top of shattered lanterns. Books were strewn about, pages ripped out and scattered. Three black-garbed bodies were sprawled out on the floor. She glanced to the side to see Elsa leaning around the corner, scowling. She gestured for Anna to join her, and Anna followed her around to the front door, where Heins and Kristoff were already waiting.

Elsa held up three fingers, and Heins and Kristoff tensed. She put one down, then another, then-

Kristoff kicked the door and it flew open, bouncing against the wall. He and Heins stormed in, followed quickly by Anna and Elsa. Kristoff and Heins stayed in the main room as Elsa and Anna each darted into the other two, Anna’s eyes scanning-

She froze. There were four more dead Empire soldiers in here. Slumped against the wall, covered in wounds, his eyes open and milky, was the still form of Silas. Next to him was the body of Elsie, lying on her back, her throat ripped open in a jagged gash. Her emerald green eyes were a cloudy olive color now.

“NO!” Anna screamed, horror, shock, and grief overwhelming her as she stumbled backwards out of the room and tripped, landing on the floor with a hard crash.

“Anna!” Kristoff cried, leaping forward, bolting through the door, and Heins and Elsa were close behind. There was a horrified pause as Anna began to cry.

“ARGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

Heins’s roar was punctuated with a loud crash, followed by the sound of smashing glass- he had thrown a table across the room, then more screams of pain and rage, and more smashing sounds. Kristoff stumbled back out of the door, falling down next to Anna and embracing her as she clutched at him, sobbing. Silas and Elsie’s pale eyes floated in front of her vision. Elsa stood by the doorway, her hand over her mouth, watching her husband destroy the room, and then he fell to his knees, and all was silent.


	92. Crimes of the Empire: Elsa - Last Gift

Elsa wasn’t sure she had ever felt so helpless as she did right now. One of her Queensguard, a friend, who had saved Elsa’s life on more than one occasion, lay dead in front of her. A kind, caring young woman, a friend, who had saved Elsa’s life on more than one occasion, lay dead in front of her. A deposed King of Arendelle, her husband, who had saved Elsa’s life on countless occasions, sat despondent in front of her. And she couldn’t bring herself to move. She couldn’t process what she was seeing. Ignis’s was supposed to be the safe place. Elsie was supposed to be safe here. How could she be dead?

And Silas. How could Silas  _ possibly _ be dead? He was the most reliable of any of the Queensguard. She had seen him go up against impossible odds and come out the other side safe and sound. Of all the Queensguard, he had been the one Elsa worried about least. He tackled every assignment with quiet proficiency and stalwart courage. But here he was, still and lifeless. He had died with sword in hand, doing his duty to the end.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and someone turned her around. She found herself looking at Kristoff. “Els? You with us?”

The direct question, Kristoff’s worried stare, Anna crying behind him- it all seemed to snap Elsa out of a trance. “Yeah,” she muttered, shaking her head to clear it. “I’m good.” She looked around him, and saw Anna looking devastated. “Take Anna and get Ciri.  _ Keep her outside _ , understand?”

“Got it, Els.” He shot a worried glance at Heins, then back at Elsa. “You sure you’re good?”

“I’m sure.” After a bracing hand on Elsa’s shoulder, they turned away from each other, Kristoff to help Anna up, Elsa into the room with Heins. He was still on his knees, facing away from her, head hung. Tears dripped from his nose and splattered onto the dark blood- Elsie’s blood.

“Heins?” Elsa said tentatively, putting a hand on his back.

“How the fuck did this happen?” he muttered, his voice hoarse and shaking. Whether it was from grief or rage, Elsa didn’t know. “How did they find this place?”

“... I don’t know.”

Heins turned around. His face was contorted with anguish, and his eyes were alight with fury. “Where is Ignis?” he hissed. “Why isn’t he here?”

“... I don’t know.”

“Did that bastard sell us out?” he demanded, rising to his feet. 

“I don’t know, Heins,” Elsa said nervously, backing up. He was beside himself with anger, and it was starting to scare Elsa.

“You’re the one who sent him here! You’re the one who told the Queensguard to trust him!” Heins shouted, beginning to advance on her.

“Heins,” she warned, taking more steps back. She was running out of room. “Heins, you’re scaring me.”

“SILAS AND ELSIE ARE DEAD!” Heins roared. His hands were balled up into fists. Elsa’s hair started to flutter in the wind. “AND IGNIS IS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND! HE FUCKING BETRAYED US! AND  _ YOU VOUCHED FOR HIM! _ ”

“Heins-!” Elsa cried, and then her foot came down on something round. It shot out from under her, and she lost her balance, toppling over, throwing her arms out behind her to break her fall, wincing, anticipating the impact-

Something grabbed her around the middle before she hit the ground, and she felt herself being hauled back upright. She looked over to see Kristoff, setting her on her feet again, and then Anna, storming past him, straight up to Heins.

“WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?” Anna screamed at him.

“SHE’S THE REASON THEY’RE DEAD!” Heins shouted back, firing up again.

“Bullshit!” Kristoff yelled, marching to his wife’s side. “Calm down, Heins- now!” 

“LOOK AT THEM! THESE ARE MY FUCKING PEOPLE!” Heins bellowed, pointing at Silas and Elsie. Elsa wanted to intervene, but found herself unable to. Tears were welling up in her eyes. In all the time she’d known him, in all the fights they had, in all the fiercest arguments, in all those little domestic squabbles that were bound to crop up in any relationship, the thought had never even crossed her mind that he might hurt her. Until now. 

Kristoff stood his ground, not moving back in the slightest as Heins got within inches of him. “Heins. Calm. Down.  _ Now _ ,” he growled. Heins glared at him, then spun around and swept out of the room, continuing on outside.

Kristoff bent down to examine Elsie and Silas, while Anna turned around to face Elsa. “You okay, sis?” Anna asked.

“Yeah,” Elsa said, hurriedly wiping her eyes. “I’m fine.”

Anna came closer and hugged Elsa, and whispered, “I love you, Elsa,” in her ear.

“Love you too,” Elsa whispered back, embracing her. They broke apart, and both looked sadly down at Silas and Elsie. “Where  _ is _ Ignis?” Elsa muttered.

“Might be in the cellar,” Anna said. “Kristoff- you think the Empire’s still nearby?”

Kristoff shook his head, standing up. “They’ve been dead more than a week, at least. If Empire were nearby, they’d have shown themselves by now.” 

“Kristoff, will you go back and stay with Ciri, just in case?” Elsa asked, as Anna led the way back into the front room. “We’ll check out the cellar and come meet you after.”

“Sure, Els.” Kristoff split off from them and went outside, as Anna and Elsa made their way to the far corner. They cleared debris off of what Elsa soon realized was a trapdoor, then, once the top was clear, pulled on the latch, but it didn’t open. 

“Huh?” Anna said, standing back up straight. “Oh, look.” She pointed, and a piece of metal Elsa had taken for a loose piece of debris- perhaps from a table- was actually being used to bar the trapdoor shut. Anna kicked it aside and swung the trapdoor open, then reeled back as a foul stench of rotting meat assaulted their nostrils.

“Damn,” Anna choked, leaning away from the cellar, and Elsa almost retched. They took a moment to acclimate to the smell, and then climbed down, Anna in the lead, with a ball of fire crackling in one hand. The stench was overwhelming, and Elsa’s stomach turned as her lunch threatened to make a reappearance. She fought down the wave of nausea with a few deep breaths, then looked around. It seemed to be a root cellar. Jars of preserved foods lined the shelves on the walls, and there were baskets of moldy fruits and vegetables scattered around. In the corner, sitting up against the wall, was the body of Ignis. A bloody knife lay next to him, and his forearms had been slit open from wrist to elbow. 

“God  _ dammit _ ,” Elsa hissed. 

“Oh, for…” Anna huffed, but paused. “What’s that next to him?”

Elsa looked. There was a piece of paper on the floor next to Ignis’s corpse. She went over and picked it up. “It’s a letter…” Elsa said, and as she spoke, she felt more bile rise in her throat. “Let’s get upstairs. I’m going to throw up if I don’t get out of here.” 

“What about Ignis?” Anna asked.

“We’ll bury him later. Come on.” 

Anna nodded. The two of them climbed the ladder back up to the ground floor, then closed the hatch, stifling the stench for now. Elsa had to take a few moments to catch her breath and wait for the nausea to subside. Then, they kicked aside some more debris and sat down against the wall next to each other, and then Elsa began to read aloud.

_ Your Majesty, I hope you get this. Elsie and Silas are already dead. I hope the others weren’t found. I don’t understand how they found us. _

“So much for Heins’s accusation,” Anna muttered, sounding bitter. “Can’t believe he blamed you. And to blow up like that-”

“He traveled with Silas and Elsie for two years,” Elsa cut across. “As much as I liked and respected them both, and owe them more than I’d ever be able to repay, I can’t imagine how he feels right now. He didn’t mean it.” Even as the words left her lips, she could hear how empty and hollow they sounded.

“I guess,” Anna relented, but Elsa could tell she was still angry at how he had treated Elsa. To be fair, Elsa was too. He’d never scared her like that before. She thought for one moment that he might actually strike her, something he’d never even come close to doing ever before. “How  _ did _ the Empire find them, though? We weren’t-” Her voice cut off at once, and all the color drained from her face. “... Oh,  _ fuck _ .”

“What?”

Anna looked at Elsa, anguished. “Why didn’t we think of it? The invisible guy.”

Realization crashed over Elsa, followed by an equally massive wave of guilt. “It  _ is  _ my fault…” Elsa whispered.

“No, it-”

“Yes it is,” Elsa insisted over her sister’s protests. “Silas even told me so. He told me it was a bad decision even then. To kill him without questioning him...”

“You couldn’t know that, Elsa,” Anna said softly. “And even then, we should have realized. This isn’t just on you, sis.” She reached out and took Elsa’s hand in shared grief and regret. Elsa pulled her into a hug, and she could feel that, for the very first time, they were supporting each other as equals. Both wanted to blame themselves, both refused to allow the other to. They both took a deep breath and split apart, and Elsa continued reading.

_ I don’t understand how they found us. I suppose it doesn’t matter. They’ve trapped me down here. I don’t have much time left. All this food down here, and no water. I go to my death with this final information as an offering. I hope you are able to make use of it. _

_ First, I believe that the young girl you have seen is indeed the Source, or rather, a projection of the Source. I found a description of the Source, but didn't realize it at the time, as I thought it was another adolescent love letter. It wasn't until after our conversation that I revisited the translation. The Source has been reported to take many forms, one of which was described as a young girl, around ten years old, with dark hair and a gray dress. _

_ By combining the untranslated texts here and what I learned while in Weselton, as well as what Hans was asking me to translate, I believe I have determined Hans’s goal. The legend goes that the Ancients harnessed the power of the elements, and the Spirits were formed as a response by the forces of nature to defend itself. I believed this to be the case, and the Source was born from the remaining power of nature. I was wrong. The Source is properly named. It is not the Source of magic. It is the Source of all. It is the life essence of the planet, in a way. This is what the Ancients were harnessing. If this had continued, the planet itself would have withered and died. _

_ Four Ancients discovered this truth. Not only had they not been aware of the consequences, they also did not know that the Source was sentient and in tremendous pain to fuel their civilization. They betrayed their leaders and allied themselves with the Source, turning on the rest of the Ancients. To aid them in their fight, the Source blessed the four with immense power of the elements. Ice for Shiva, fire for Ifrit, earth for Titan, and air for Valefor. These four wiped out their former kinsmen, and in return, the Source gifted them with eternal life. Hans is attempting to reproduce this process, and become a Spirit himself. _

Anna and Elsa locked eyes. “Oh, shit,” Anna said. “Does it say anything else?”

“Yeah.” Elsa continued reading.

_ I have also been able to ascertain the location of the Source. It was under your very feet. The Source is buried beneath-  _

“Arendelle Castle?!” Elsa exclaimed.

“What?” Anna gasped. “Wait…  _ what? _ ”

“That’s what it says,” Elsa breathed. "How does this keep happening? What makes us so special?"

"I don't know." Anna chewed her lip, then gasped. "Wait a minute- is that why Hans tried to marry me? To get access to the castle?"

"Maybe," Elsa said. "Do you think he knew all this back then?"

"I think we've underestimated him more than once."

"Good point." Elsa sat back and tried to process this news. The whole time, the Source had been beneath her. How far, she wondered. A hundred feet? Fifty? Twenty? And it was yet another coincidence. Shiva on the North Mountain. Ifrit in Corona. Titan in the Valley of Living Rock. And Valefor in the Southern Isles. And now, the Source of all of that, of all magic, maybe even of all life, had been under her feet for over twenty years. The feeling of being a mere pawn in some larger game intensified. There wasn’t much of the letter left, so she pushed that feeling aside for now and finished reading.

_ I do not know how close Hans is to this goal. But if he is successfully able to compel the Source to make him a Spirit, he will be able to expand the Empire to every corner of the planet. He will not die. He will not be beaten. You must stop him before then.  _

_ You mentioned during our brief time together that you felt like this was all part of some larger plan. I believe the location of the Source only serves as confirmation of that. I believe the Source has been arranging this for a long time- perhaps before you were even born. Let this give you hope as you continue along this path. You and your family have been chosen by the Source of life itself to save the world. And in my humble opinion, it could not have chosen better. Good luck, Your Majesty. _

“That’s it,” Elsa said, letting her hands drop to her lap and laying her head back against the wall, closing her eyes. She felt Anna scoot closer and put her head on Elsa’s shoulder, clinging to her arm. 

After a few contemplative moments, Anna spoke softly. “We can do this, Elsa. Together.”

Elsa extricated her arm from Anna’s grip, then put it around her, pulling her close, kissing the top of her head. “Together,” she whispered. “Alright, come on. Let’s go find the others. We need to bury our friends.”

Elsa made to get up, but Anna gripped onto her arm. “Hang on,” Anna murmured. “What about Heins?”

“What about him?” Elsa said, trying to keep her tone light. Anna twisted around and met Elsa’s eyes.

“You know what.”

Elsa sighed. “Yeah… I do.” She put her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. “I’m angry too, Anna. But… is it really all that different than what you did, way back after my leg?”

“Well, no,” Anna grumbled. “But… he messed with my  _ sister _ . I don’t like it when people do that.”

Elsa giggled and hugged Anna a little tighter. “I know. Tell you what. I want to at least give him a chance to apologize. Let me talk to him first, then after that, you can read him the riot act. Deal?”

“Deal.”

The two of them got to their feet, and with a sad glance into the other room, where they could see Silas and Elsie still lying there, they left the lab to find the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hot take alert: Domestic violence........... is bad. I know, I know, bold statement, but hear me out.
> 
> What Heins does here is not okay, and it's not treated as okay. However, I do want to emphasize a few things: first, this is not exactly normal circumstances. These people are so far past stressed and exhausted and fried it's not even funny. It shouldn't come as a surprise that they're unable to keep their emotions in check when coming across a scene like that. Second, Heins does not hurt Elsa. Her being afraid of him for a brief moment is bad, yes, but it is not equivalent to him hurting her. Third, Heins feels _terrible_ for it, and they deal with the issue in the next chapters.
> 
> I just wanted to offer this explanation because, in normal circumstances (not being hunted for two years, for example), what Heins does is more unforgivable. Both in story and out, I want to be very clear- this sort of behavior is not acceptable, and should never, ever be swept under the rug. That's not the same as it being unforgivable, but don't ever let it go unaddressed.


	93. Crimes of the Empire: Kristoff - Uncomfortable Company

It took no time at all to track down Ciri from where she waited with the horses. She stood, half concealed behind a tree, one green eye peeking out towards him as he approached, apprehensive, but determined. She had been improving steadily since leaving the Southern Isles, trying to triumph over her fear as best she could. Kristoff could only hope that this wouldn’t cause too big a setback. 

“Hey Ciri,” said Kristoff, as he trudged past her and took a seat against a tree. He saw her slide ever so slightly along the tree she was huddled against, putting just a bit more distance between the two of them. Kristoff wished Elsa had come with. She was the only one who Ciri actually seemed comfortable around, for the most part at least. 

“I heard shouting,” she said quietly.  _ At least her voice isn’t shaking this time _ , Kristoff thought.

“Yeah… I’ve got some bad news, Ciri. Elsa’s fine,” he added quickly, seeing Ciri’s eyes widen, “and so are Anna and Heins.” Ciri was still tense, but he could see the blind panic in her gaze recede. That didn’t make what he had to say next any easier. “But… I’m sorry, Ciri, but Silas and Elsie are… dead.”

She reacted more or less as Kristoff expected. Her gaze dropped to the ground, followed by Ciri herself, as she pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them, something Elsa told him Ciri called her “shell”. “Oh,” he heard her whisper, in a voice that was almost inaudible, muffled by her arms.

“I’m sorry, Ciri,” Kristoff said again. “I know you and Elsie were close.”

Ciri nodded without looking up. “And Silas was always so kind to me…”

“How could you tell,” Kristoff chuckled. “Could never get the guy to say more than a few words at a time…”

Ciri gave a watery giggle. “Yeah… It was a lot of body language I guess…”

“And a grunt or two here and there,” Kristoff said, smiling a little. 

“Yeah,” Ciri mumbled, raising her head a little, so that Kristoff could see her eyes, though half her face was still hidden behind her folded arms. “And Elsie… I never got a chance to thank her properly…” Tears were starting to slide down Ciri’s cheeks.

“For what?”

“Back in Weselton,” Ciri said miserably. “She saved me from Hubert. I don’t know what he would have done to me.. But she didn’t even hesitate. She jumped in front of me and distracted him, and I just… left her behind as I ran away. I never really thanked her for that. And now I never will.”

“I know how you feel.” Ciri gave him a questioning frown. “I never got a chance to thank Father or Lilly for what they did for me either.”

“How did you get over it?”

“Dunno. If you figure it out, will you let me know? Sorry,” he added quickly, seeing her face fall. “I’m not good at this stuff,” he finished lamely. He saw a hint of a smile crinkle Ciri’s eyes. “What I meant was…” He sighed and ran a hand over the back of his neck. “You have to just learn to live with it. There’s so much more than the last thing you said to them. Trust me, Elsie knew how grateful you were.”

“I… guess.” She came out of her shell a little more, resting her chin on her knees and lowering her arms around her shins instead. She sat in silence for a few minutes, Kristoff taking the opportunity to lean forward and close his eyes. He couldn’t stop imagining Elsie and Silas’s final moments. Had it at least been quick for Elsie? Had Silas gone to his death with pride? 

“What was all the yelling about?” Ciri asked after a while.

“Oh, that,” Kristoff said, letting his head fall back against the trunk he was leaning on and looking up into the sky. “Heins thinks Ignis sold us out. Elsa was the first to vouch for him, so… he sort of took it out on her.”

“Did he hurt her?”

Ciri’s tone was so low and dangerous that for a moment Kristoff almost didn’t recognize her voice, and thought perhaps someone else had come along. He looked back around at her to see her incensed with fury. “No, of course not,” he said, holding out a placating hand. “I think she thought he might, but not on purpose, like Anna way back when.” Some of the tension evaporated from her shoulders and neck, but she was still on edge. Kristoff was not doing very well, and he mentally kicked himself.  _ Come on, get it together, choose your words better, idiot. _

“Did he?” Ciri muttered.

“Did- who? What?”

“Did Ignis betray us?”

“I don’t know,” Kristoff sighed, then saw a glimpse of snowy blonde and strawberry red peeking through the trees. “We’re about to find out, I think. We’re over here!” he called, raising his voice. He saw the red and blonde change course and head towards him.

The sisters came into view, their expressions a little troubled. “Hey,” Anna said, walking over to Kristoff and sitting down next to him, while Elsa joined Ciri, who seemed soothed by her presence. “We found Ignis,” Anna said to Kristoff, as Elsa started talking to Ciri.

“And?” Kristoff prompted. 

“Dead. Suicide. Didn’t sell us out, though.” Anna’s voice was monotonous, oddly empty. 

“... You okay?” 

“Yeah. No. I don’t know.” In response to Kristoff’s questioning gaze, Anna reached inside her breast pocket and pulled out a folded piece of parchment. “Here. This was next to Ignis’s body.” Kristoff began to read, keenly aware that his wife was watching him for a reaction.

As he made his way through the letter, a leaden feeling grew in his stomach. Hans, becoming a Spirit? And he, Anna, Elsa, and Heins were all that stood between Hans and godhood? He finished the letter and handed it back to Anna, who stared at him, waiting for him to say something.

“... fuck.”


	94. Crimes of the Empire: Elsa - Tracking Heins

“Hey Ciri, you okay?” Elsa asked, as Anna went to speak with Kristoff. Ciri had already begun clinging to Elsa’s arm, and Elsa sighed. “Are you still that uncomfortable around Kristoff?”

Ciri shook her head, paused, then tilted it to the side. “Well, a little, but it’s not that.”

“He told you what we found?” Ciri nodded. “We found Ignis too. He’d killed himself.”

“That’s awful,” Ciri mumbled.

Elsa nodded her agreement, then took a breath. She had to address this. “Let’s have a seat,” Elsa said, gesturing for them to sit against a tree trunk. “Ciri… I’m really sorry.” Ciri frowned at her, questioning. “I almost sent you here. Twice. If I had…” A vision overwhelmed her then, of Ciri’s lifeless body, her blood congealing in puddles around her, her green eyes foggy and unseeing, laying next to Silas and Elsie. 

“You couldn’t have known,” Ciri whispered, slipping her hand into Elsa’s. “It’s-”

“I could have,” Elsa said bitterly.

“Huh?”

“Do you remember the magician Anna burned in the cave?”

Ciri frowned and looked away, trying to recall. Elsa could tell when she realized- the color drained from her face, and her eyes widened. “No,” she whimpered. “He had them followed?”

“I think so.”

“I’m so sorry, Elsa,” Ciri said. 

“Me too.” Elsa hesitated, then asked, “So have you seen Heins?”

“No.” Ciri’s tone was so curt that Elsa had no doubt whatsoever that Kristoff had told her what transpired in the lab.

“It’ll be okay, Ciri,” Elsa said.

“He almost hurt you, Kristoff said so,” Ciri shot back, with more venom than Elsa expected. Then again, she knew she was one of the only anchors for Ciri’s reality just now, so maybe it shouldn’t be too surprising.

“I don’t know exactly what Kristoff said, but Heins didn’t almost hurt me, sweetheart. I was only really afraid he’d lose control of his magic, like Anna and I have. He’d never really mean to hurt me.”

“Still,” Ciri grumbled, still looking concerned and indignant for Elsa.

“You don’t have to worry about me, you know,” Elsa said gently.

“I know. But I do.” 

Elsa pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head. “I’m glad to see you’re getting your kindness back.”

“I am?” Ciri asked, her tone turning to surprise before dropping back to quiet indignation. “Don’t think you can distract me by complimenting me.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“... Do you really think I’m getting better?” The question was quiet, hesitant, and yet, Elsa heard an unmistakable tone of the old Ciri’s hope and optimism underneath it, and Elsa smiled.

“Of course I do. Do you not?”

Ciri bit her lip. “I don’t know. I want to be myself again, but… I don’t remember what that felt like.” Ciri looked up at Elsa, who wasn’t able to hide the surprise on her face in time. “Sounds strange, right? I wasn’t there for very long, according to you. But to me… It felt like months.”

“It did?”

“They… they messed with my head. You know that. They…” She broke off, then shook her head. “It doesn’t matter now. Go find Heins. We need to… We need-” her voice broke, and she fell silent.

“You want to say goodbye,” Elsa murmured. Ciri nodded, and her jaw worked as she fought off tears. “Alright. I’ll be back soon. Will you be okay here?” Ciri nodded again. Elsa gave her a squeeze and climbed to her feet. “Either of you two know where Heins went?” she asked Anna and Kristoff.

Kristoff, who had just handed Ignis’s last letter back to Anna, did not respond, looking lost in thought, but Anna looked up. “No. Want me to help you find him?”

“Can you?”

Anna smirked. “Watch me. Come on.” She kissed Kristoff, then stood up and strode past Elsa, towards the lab, and Elsa followed.

“How are you going to find him?” Elsa asked, jogging to catch up and walk alongside her sister.

“Track him, duh.”

“Uhh…” Anna didn’t seem bothered by Elsa’s confusion, and when they reached the lab, Anna said nothing, but bent down and examined the soft earth just outside the front door. She ran her fingers delicately over the ground, searching for something Elsa could not see.

“Alright, that’s him,” Anna said, mostly to herself. She half rose, moving along close to the ground for a few yards before straightening up fully. “Follow me,” Anna said, and she set off at a brisk pace, occasionally pausing to examine the ground for a moment, leaving Elsa to hurry along in her wake.

“Um… are you sure we’re going the right way?” Elsa asked, after nearly five minutes of following Anna through the dense trees, the ground growing more thick with weeds that sprung back into place as soon as Elsa passed them.

“Positive,” Anna said. “Trust me.”

“I do, but…”

“Trust me,” Anna repeated. “He wasn’t trying to cover his tracks. It may as well be signposted.”

“What are you even seeing?” Elsa asked. “Don’t tell me you can see his footprints on this kind of ground?”

Anna paused and turned around. Her expression was pleased, and maybe a little proud. “Everything. Look,” she said, coming over to Elsa so they stood side by side. “Look that way,” she said, pointing to Elsa’s right. “What do you see?”

Elsa looked. “Uh… Nothing?”

Far from laughing at Elsa’s answer, Anna nodded. “Yep. Now look that way,” she said, pointing the way they had been heading.

Elsa peered in that direction. “Um… nothing?”

“Wrong. Look closer. Notice everything. Look back and forth, find the differences between this way and that way.”

“Okay…” Elsa muttered. She looked between the two directions, trying to see what Anna could possibly be seeing, but no matter how hard she looked, she just couldn’t tell what Anna was following. “I don’t get it,” Elsa huffed.

Anna grinned, and launched into a long-winded and rambly explanation of all the signs she was following- bent grass, broken twigs, disheveled underbrush, and even a tiny spot of blood on a thorn that must have caught Heins as he passed. Elsa listened with growing admiration as Anna spoke. She had no idea her sister had become such an adept tracker.

“Jeez, Anna,” Elsa said, once Anna’s explanation had come to a close. “How did you learn all this?”

“After the Fall,” Anna said, setting off again. “I had to learn how to stay hidden. That meant staying off the beaten path- a lot. I stole food at first, but once I got my hands on a bow, I started to teach myself how to hunt. I hated having to steal, so I learned fast. Big part of that was being able to follow game. After a while, I started learning to track Empire patrols, too. Helped avoid them.”

“I see. Not bad, sis. Not bad at all.”

Anna grinned, then slowed to a stop, moving her head around to see through the trees at different angles. “I see him. He’s right up there,” she muttered, pointing. 

“Hey, give me the letter,” Elsa said. “I’ll show it to him so he knows it wasn’t Ignis that betrayed us.”

Anna handed it over, then asked, “Can you find your way back alright?”

“Um…”

“No problem. I’ll stay around here. I won’t eavesdrop… probably.” Elsa glared at her. “Okay, fine, I promise, I won’t eavesdrop.”

“You better not,” Elsa warned, then headed in the direction Anna indicated. She couldn’t see Heins at first, but sure enough, she only needed to go a few yards before she caught a glimpse of him. He was sitting against a tree, head hung low, his eyes closed. Despite the tranquil atmosphere around him, his expression was deeply troubled. He didn’t seem to have heard her approach yet. 

“Hey there,” Elsa said softly, stepping into view.


	95. Crimes of the Empire: Heins - Together

“Hey there.”

The voice, soft though it was, caused Heins to jump. He jerked his head up, then his vision swam as his head thudded off the tree trunk. He gasped in pain and clapped a hand to the spot, already feeling a rising knot there.

“Heins!” Elsa’s voice had risen in alarm. “Are you okay?”

Though Heins’s eyes were screwed shut tight, his head throbbing, he could hear Elsa approaching and kneel down next to him. The last thing he wanted, or deserved, just now was her sympathy, so he grunted, “‘m fine.”

“Lemme see,” she said, but Heins moved away, raising an arm to ward her off, feeling it push her hands away.

“I said I’m fine.”

“O-oh.” He could hear the hurt in her voice, then heard the soft thump of her hands falling to her lap.  _ Nice one, dumbshit.  _ In a voice that sounded like she was fighting back tears, Elsa whispered, “They were my friends too, you know.”

“I know, Elsa,” Heins sighed, rubbing the knot one more time before letting his hands fall to his sides. “I know. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. I’m sorry for everything. Contrary to my behavior earlier, I’m not a complete idiot. I know it’s not your fault they’re d-... gone. I was just… in denial, I guess. I trusted Ignis too, and I wanted someone else to blame. I’m so sorry… I never should have taken it out on you.”

“Well… I appreciate that,” Elsa said, sounding awkward for some reason now. He opened his eyes and glanced over. She was fidgeting with a piece of paper with a fair amount of writing on it. “Um… Ignis… yeah, just read this.” Heins took the page and started to read.

_ Your Majesty, I hope you get this. Elsie and Silas are already dead. I hope the others got away. I don’t understand how they found us. _

“Oh, no,” Heins muttered. Shame dropped into his stomach like a lead weight. He looked guiltily at Elsa. “It wasn’t him, was it?” Elsa shook her head sadly.

“We found his body in the cellar. He’d been locked in, and slit his wrists rather than… well. It was quicker that way. But first, he wrote that.”

“Son of a…” Heins sighed. “I’m sorry, Ignis,” he added in a whisper, and then he continued reading. He was acutely aware of Elsa watching him closely, and the reason for that became apparent within seconds. There was some surprising information about the nature of the Spirits, but then-

“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me, Hans is trying to become a Spirit!?” Heins exclaimed, his mouth agape and looking at Elsa for confirmation.

“Seems that way. It adds up, doesn’t it? But keep reading.”

No sooner had he turned his eyes back to the page than he caught a glimpse of the next sentence. “The Source is under Arendelle… Wait a minute… do you think that’s why Hans tried to marry Anna?”

Elsa chuckled. “You had the same thought we did. Anna and I both think it’s a distinct possibility.”

Heins turned his attention back to the letter, and felt his guilt intensify at the encouraging words Ignis had left for them all. “Oh, man,” he groaned, once he had finished. “As if I didn’t feel bad enough already for blaming him and getting mad at you.”

“Don’t dwell on it, honey,” Elsa whispered, but then she ran a hand through Heins’s hair, and he gasped in pain as she brushed over where he had hit the tree. “Oh, shit, sorry!” she gasped, drawing back from him. “You okay?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. I’ve got a thick skull.”

“Let me see,” Elsa ordered again, and this time, Heins acquiesced. She leaned forward on her knees and brushed his hair aside, then let out a low whistle. “Man, you really knocked that thing. You’ve got a huge bump there, but you’re not bleeding, at least.”

“That’s good,” Heins said. She started to sit back on her heels, but Heins twisted around and grabbed her, pulling her into a tight embrace. “I’m so, so sorry,” he whispered in her ear.

“It’s okay, Heins,” she whispered back, hugging him tighter. “Now come on. We have things to do, and… friends to say farewell to.”

“Alright. Let’s go.” They intertwined their hands and made their way back towards the lab, but then Elsa hesitated.

“Oh, yeah. I needed Anna’s help to find you. She’s still nearby.”

“Oh… She’s probably pretty pissed off at me, huh?”

“Well….”

“It’s alright. I deserve it.” Just then, he caught a glimpse of said hot-tempered redhead stalking towards him from between a small copse of trees. “Oh boy,” he muttered, and Elsa dropped his hand and took a step back. “Huh? What are you doing?”

“Hey, I told her she could deal with you as long as I got to talk to you first,” Elsa said, half apologetically, half teasing.

Anna marched straight up to Heins, stopped a foot from him, then stuck her finger in his face. She was almost six inches shorter than him, but right now, she towered over him, and he cowered in the face of her ferocity. “Let me make something very clear for you, Heins,” she growled. “If I  _ ever _ catch wind of you doing something like that to my sister again,  _ especially _ when she didn’t do a damn thing wrong, you’ll be nothing more than a blackened husk on the ground before you can say ‘Holy shit Anna set me on fire.’ Are we clear?”

“Crystal,” said Heins, swallowing nervously. 

“Good,” Anna huffed. “Now, you owe someone an apology.”

“I already apologized to-”

“Not Elsa, dumbass.”

“Oh. Right.” Heins rubbed the back of his neck, which had grown very hot. “Sorry.”

“That didn’t sound very sorry to me.”

Heins sighed. “Anna… I really am sorry. I was acting like a complete idiot. I didn’t want to accept they were gone and I took it out on Elsa, and you. I’m so, so sorry.”

“That’s better. Now come here,” she commanded, raising her arms. Heins stepped into Anna’s hug and embraced her back. Dropping her tone to a gentle whisper, she said, “I didn’t want to believe it either. I know you traveled with them for a long time. I’m sorry, Heins.”

“I appreciate that, Anna. I really do. And I’m sorry too,” he murmured back. He glanced over her shoulder to see Elsa smiling and shaking her head. “Enjoy the show?” he asked her, as he and Anna broke apart.

“Little bit.”

“Good,” Anna said, sounding pleased with herself, but then her face fell. “Let’s go. We have friends to bury.”

In order to keep Ciri from seeing the grisly scene inside the lab, Elsa and Anna took her to look for a suitable burial ground, while Heins and Kristoff were left with the unpleasant task of moving their friends outside and wrapping them in sheets. It was a job made all the more terrible when Heins picked up Elsie. He had tried to be gentle, but he hadn’t realized just how deeply her throat had been cut. When he picked her up, her head fell back, opening her neck grotesquely wide, causing a wave of nausea so intense Heins nearly threw up. Kristoff mercifully offered to handle Elsie if Heins would get Silas, but Heins refused. Silas was precious to him as well, but Elsie had cared for all of them on so many occasions. He owed it to her for that, no matter how much it pained him to see her like this.

Eventually, the three of them were outside the lab, laid out on the grass, wrapped in sheets they scavenged from the remnants of the lab’s sole bed. As Kristoff and Heins were laying Ignis down, they saw Anna, Elsa, and Ciri returning, their faces solemn. Ciri was hiding half behind Elsa, holding onto her arm, keeping Elsa between herself and the bodies, as though afraid they might come to life and attack her- which, Heins reminded himself, probably happened in one of her nightmares. 

“We found a place,” Elsa announced. “Or rather, Ciri did. It’s quite beautiful, and it’s not too far of a walk.”

“How are we getting them there?” Heins asked.

“Well, if you two can get Silas and Ignis, Elsa and I can get Elsie,” Anna suggested. At her words, Ciri looked at her, alarmed, but only Heins seemed to notice her reaction.

“You okay, Ciri?” he asked. She responded by tightening her grip on Elsa’s arm, who had realized the problem as well.

“Hey,” she said gently. “I know you want to walk with me, but just stay a little ways behind, okay? You can do that, right? For them?”

Ciri’s panicked expression didn’t fade immediately, but after a few moments, she set her shoulders, swallowed hard, then nodded. “For them,” she said in a barely audible mumble. Elsa smiled proudly at her, then pressed a kiss to her forehead before stepping away.

“Let’s go, then. Which one is Elsie?”

The spot was beautiful indeed. A field of white flowers swayed in a gentle summer’s breeze through the small clearing on a hilltop. A bubbling creek ebbed and flowed on the north side of the hill, sending a soothing soundscape of rippling water across the flowers. The trees surrounded the clearing in a neat circle, as though this place had been carved from the forest by the heavens. Heins could not think of a better resting place than this.

By unspoken, unanimous agreement, they would use as little magic as reasonably possible to dig the graves. Kristoff brought three rocks from underground to act as grave markers, and Elsa made spades, as well as magically reinforced hammer and chisels, but other than that, everything was done by hand. They rotated shifts between digging and chiseling out the gravemarkers. All told, it took the rest of the day to prepare the site, but eventually, there were three neatly dug and marked graves, waiting patiently for their grim offerings before being filled in again. The three bodies were laid down as gently as possible in the corresponding graves, and then Kristoff used his powers to fill them in. They had originally planned on doing that part by hand too, but the sun was rapidly setting, and they wanted to get them interred today. It seemed disrespectful to all of them to leave their friends sitting out in the open any longer.

When the unpleasant work was done, the five of them stood, side by side, at the foot of the graves. Heins had his arm around Elsa, who was clutching onto both him and Ciri. To Heins’s other side was Anna and Kristoff. Not one of their eyes was dry.

“I want to… say something,” Ciri said in a trembling voice. The others looked over at her, and she moved forward a step, so that she was in front of Ignis’s grave. Her hands were shaking nearly as bad as her voice, but she was carrying herself with as much dignity and poise as Heins had ever seen. He couldn’t imagine how she was pulling it off. “I didn’t get a chance to get to know you, Ignis. But you served Elsa, and for that… thank you.” 

She moved to the side, in front of Silas, tears beginning to flow in earnest down her front. “I didn’t know you well either, Silas- though not for lack of trying on my part,” she added with a watery giggle. “You were always so quiet, but… I admired that about you. Whenever I got scared, or anxious, I could count on you to be there, calm... collected... and that would help me be calm too. Thank you.”

With shakier steps, she moved in front of Elsie, sobbing now. “Elsie… You saved me from Hubert in Weselton... You saved Elsa, who… She’s very special to me. I don’t know what I would do without her. And you saved her. Thank you… so much, Elsie. I’m going to miss you…” With that, the last remnants of Ciri’s composure broke, and she stumbled back into Elsa’s arms, and Elsa swept her up in a tight embrace. 

Later that night, as Heins went to enter the smaller tent as usual, he felt someone grab his hand. He turned to see that it was, to his very great surprise, Ciri. “Hey, what’s up, Ciri?” Heins asked. She hadn’t touched anyone but Elsa since they rescued her.

“Um… I’ll sleep in there tonight.”

Heins raised his eyebrows. “You sure? After all that? Are you sure you’ll be able to sleep? I really don’t mind, you know.”

Ciri nodded, looking nervous, but determined. “I’ll be fine. Kristoff told me about… what happened in the lab.”

“What does that have to do with this?”

Ciri suddenly looked embarrassed. “I… I don’t like it when you guys are fighting, okay? I don’t want you to sleep apart because of me. Not after you fought today.”

Heins rubbed the back of his neck, feeling uncomfortable. “Yeah, but-”

“I already talked to Elsa and everything, just… shut up and go to her, you moron,” Ciri blurted out, then turned furiously red.

Heins gaped at her, and then laughed. “Well, when you put it that way… But we both care about you tremendously,” he continued, more seriously. “Neither of us-”

“I’ll be fine. I promise.”

“Alright, alright,” Heins relented. “Thanks, sweetheart. But-”

“Oh my god, shut up already,” Ciri groaned, then pushed her way past him into the tent. Heins watched her go, surprised at her forcefulness. She’d done very well that day. He supposed having real life anxieties to focus on might paradoxically make her nightmares easier to deal with. It might help her sort out the difference between tangible events and her fears. Putting the matter aside for now, he made his way over to the larger tent, but just as he bent down to enter, Elsa came out.

“Oh, good,” Elsa said. “I was afraid she wouldn’t be able to talk you into it.”

“She almost didn’t,” Heins admitted. “I’m worried about her being able to sleep tonight.”

“Tell the truth, I am too. But she was pretty insistent.”

“Same here. She even told me to shut up- twice.”

“That’s my girl,” Elsa said, with obvious pride.

“You’re terrible,” Heins said, grinning. “Ready for bed?” He gestured back towards the tent, but Elsa shook her head. “Huh?”

“Come with me.” She took his hand and pulled him away from the camp, into the pitch black woods.

“Where are we going?” Heins asked, trying to sound casual. Ciri had brought up their fight- was Elsa going to scream at him, or freeze him, or both? And Ciri was an  _ accomplice _ ? He had no confidence whatsoever in his own abilities to fight Elsa off if that was the case.

“Relax, Heins,” Elsa said lightly, having picked up on his hesitation. “We’re just going for a little midnight stroll is all.”

“Okay…” Heins mumbled, by now convinced that he was being led to his execution via angry wife. As they continued through the trees, Heins thought he could see glimpses of light from up ahead. “Elsa? What is that?”

“You’ll see.”

As they got closer and closer to the light, Heins could see that it wasn't steady light, in fact, it was flickering torchlight. "Elsa, what-"

"To quote Ciri, shut up, Heins."

A few moments later, they stepped out from behind the last clump of bushes obscuring the light. "What the…" Heins mumbled. They had come to a small pool, sunk down into the forest floor. The surface of the water was three or four feet beneath the rest of the ground, with curved rocky walls surrounding it. Set into icy sconces around the pool were four torches, casting even light around the pool. Though the night was pleasantly warm, a small amount of steam twisted and rolled across the surface of the water. He was so preoccupied with the pool that it took a moment to notice that Elsa was watching him with a hopeful expression.

"Well?" she said with a bashful smile, brushing her hair behind her ear and twisting side to side a little. It was adorable. "Care to join me?" 

"Elsa- you- wait a minute- why-  _ what? _ "

"We found this place while we were looking for a spot for the others. To be honest… Ciri suggested that I bring you here tonight.”

“What? Why?”

“She pointed out how long it’s been since we had any time together. I think she felt bad for stealing me away from you at night.” She paused, then said, “I do think it’s kind of romantic, don’t you?” She turned to face him. The flickering torchlight reflected off the gently rippling water, bathing one side of Elsa in dancing light, while the other remained in darkness. The effect was breathtaking; Elsa looked perhaps more beautiful than Heins had ever seen.

“Um….” Elsa mumbled, crossing her arms self-consciously. “I thought it was romantic, anyway… but if you’d rather go back and go to bed...”

With a lurch, Heins realized he had been so taken aback by the sight of Elsa that he had forgotten to reply. “I do!” he blurted out. He could feel his neck growing hot at the strange look Elsa gave him. “No, wait, I don’t mean I want to go to bed, I mean I do think, you know, it’s romantic-” he sputtered.

“Uh… Heins? You okay?”

“I’m fine,” he said, but he was half lying. His heart was thundering in his chest. Why was he this nervous? It was just Elsa, why did it feel like it was their first date or something?

Elsa hesitated, then said, “This feels… weird, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Heins sighed. She felt it too.

There was an awkward pause, then Elsa said, “Sorry, this was a bad idea, let’s just-”

“No, it wasn’t,” Heins said. “I just… well, Ciri was right. It’s been a long time. We could probably use this.” Elsa still looked a little hesitant, biting her lip, but then she nodded. Heins moved towards her and held her tenderly, and he could feel some of the tension she’d been carrying melt away as she returned the embrace. 

“I love you, Heins,” Elsa sighed.

“I love you too, Elsa. Ready to get in?” In lieu of a response, Elsa let go of Heins and took a step back, raising her arms straight up over her head. Heins smirked. “Can’t do it yourself, huh?”

“I could, but where’s the fun in that?”

“Fair point,” Heins laughed. “Don’t mind if I do then.” He took hold of the bottom of Elsa’s shirt and pulled up. It took all of a quarter second to realize how long it had actually been since he and Elsa spent any type of intimate time together. As her shirt came up, it was as though Heins was laying eyes on Elsa’s body for the very first time. In a flash, he was no longer in the woods, he was back in Elsa’s bedchambers, the first night they spent together, and was as stricken by her beauty as he was back then, and then, just as quickly, he was back. He pulled the shirt the rest of the way off and tossed it aside. He could not stop his eyes from wandering, but Elsa didn’t seem to mind.

“Like what you see?” she asked teasingly, her hands on her hips. 

“Nah.” Elsa pouted, then Heins, laughing, said, “Of course I do. You’re stunning. Sometimes I still can’t believe my luck.”

Elsa smiled mischievously. “That’s better. My turn.” Moving fast, she yanked up Heins’s shirt, pulling his arms up, but once she had it halfway off, she stopped, leaving Heins’s eyes covered and his arms pinned over his head.

“Hey, no fair!” he cried, but his protestations were cut off by Elsa pressing her lips to his. They broke apart after some time, and Heins could hear Elsa breathing harder, then the shirt was pulled the rest of the way over his head to reveal Elsa, looking flushed and exhilarated. Without further preamble, she seized Heins’s trousers and yanked down, leaving them bunched around his ankles.

“Not wasting any time, huh?” Heins asked, grinning, but before he had even finished the sentence, she had already pulled her own pants off and was staring at him with a challenging gaze. 

“Let’s get in,” she said, pulling him towards the pool, but she hadn’t noticed he had yet to kick his pants the rest of the way off- they were still trapping his legs.

He tripped almost immediately, unable to get his feet far enough from one another to keep his balance. “Oh shit-” He fell into Elsa’s back, knocking her forward, but she was already too close to the edge to brace herself. He felt their balance go at once, and they toppled into the pit together, hitting the water with a tremendous splash. Heins kicked his legs, getting his pants off of his ankles, then raised himself above the water to hear a beautiful sound- Elsa, laughing. It was high, clear, and full of joy. It was a sound he had not heard in a long while. He looked over to see her, mostly submerged with her head sticking above the water, smoothing her hair back, then she met his eyes. They were filled with love, as well as something else, a spark of light that Heins hadn’t noticed was missing until now. She smiled at him, and then laid back, so that she was mostly floating in the water. Heins followed her example, floating on his back, soaking in the feeling of weightlessness, the pleasant warmness of the water, the clear sky full of stars above him. He let his ears submerge as well, muting the sounds of the world in dull reverberation. After a minute of this bliss, he heard Elsa say something.

“Huh?” he said, raising his head. He saw her sitting against one of the rocky edges of the pool, most of her upper body out of the water.

“I said come here,” she said, beckoning him closer. Heins, not being a complete fool, wasted no time in accepting her offer. He hopped along the bottom towards her, trying to keep most of his body underwater, and she giggled at him, hiding her mouth with her hand. When he got to his destination, she placed her hands on his shoulders and turned him around, then pulled him against her so that he was resting with his back against her stomach, and his head on her chest. She started running her hands tenderly through his hair, and the feeling of her fingers on his scalp was pleasurable to the point of ecstasy. He sagged against her, treasuring her, as she hummed a song for him. He recognized the tune as the same one she and Anna had sung together on the boat for Ciri.

“Elsa?”

“Hmm?”

“What is that song?”

“Mmm,” she murmured, and he could hear the smile in her hum, her fingers continuing to brush through his hair. “Do you like it?”

“I do. It’s beautiful.”

Elsa giggled. “Thank you. My mother used to sing it to us. She… sang it to us the night before the accident when we were children, actually. That was one of the last times Anna and I were together until after the coronation.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“No, it’s okay,” Elsa said lightly. “That was a long time ago, and besides... That’s a good memory. What came after couldn’t ruin that. Oh, right, you asked what it was. It’s called ‘All Is Found’. It’s about a magical river that knows everything about the past, and will tell those brave and strong enough to reach it. My grandmother used to sing it to my mother, and her mother sang it to her.”

“And then you sang it to Ciri…”

“Huh?”

“Never mind,” Heins said, smiling, but then the smile faded as a thought crossed his mind. Elsa must have noticed, and she stopped playing with his hair.

“What’s wrong?”

“... I feel like I don’t deserve this right now. I really messed up with you earlier today. Why are you being so…” He couldn’t find the word, so he just hoped that Elsa got the drift. She did.

“Well…” she said, her fingers running across his scalp again, “I talked to Anna earlier. We talked about the time she burned you… and you forgave her without question. I figured it’s the least I can do to forgive you for taking out some of your sadness and anger on me, at least when it’s in the heat of the moment like that. It’s not the way I’d prefer to do it, but… I did vow to help you through everything, thick and thin. Besides, I know you didn’t mean to scare me or anything, and I also think that you’ll never let it happen again. Mistakes happen. I know you learn from them.”

She could not be more correct about that. Heins would rather die than let himself scare Elsa ever again, but he still couldn’t respond right away. How, how,  _ how _ , had he wound up with this woman? He settled on, “I don’t understand you sometimes.”

Elsa giggled again. “It’s part of my charm.” She bent down and put her hands around his chest, then kissed his neck. A jolt ran through his body at the contact, then Heins twisted his head around to kiss her back. When they broke apart some seconds later, Heins moved away through the water, much to Elsa’s chagrin. “Where are you going?” she pouted.

“Nowhere. Your turn.”

Elsa brightened at once, and they swapped places, so that she sat between his legs, leaning up against his chest. While Elsa also enjoyed it when Heins would play with her hair, there was one thing she liked more. Heins put his hands on either side of her neck and massaged her shoulders.

“Ohhmyygodd…” she moaned, letting her head droop to her chest as Heins’s fingers worked the kinks and tension out of her. “You’re waaay too good at that.”

“Yeah?” he murmured, kissing the top of her head. “I’ve got talented fingers, you know?” Heins could actually feel the back of her neck get warmer at these words.

“Oh yeah?” she said, a tiny bit of hopefulness creeping into her voice.

“Yeah,” he said, letting his right hand wander down her chest.


	96. Crimes of the Empire: Elsa - Last Chance

“That… was… amazing…” Elsa panted, laying on Heins’s chest, her leg draped over him. 

“And very long overdue,” Heins said. “When’s the last time we made love?”

Elsa bit her lip. “It’s…. Been a long time. Since… oh man… Before Weselton?”

“Really?” He fell silent for a moment, thinking, then said, “Wow. I think you’re right.”

“Given that, I’m surprised you managed to last more than a few seconds,” Elsa said sweetly, kissing his neck, only now starting to catch her breath. Her legs felt like jelly. 

“Hey!” Heins gave Elsa a playful shake. “I made sure you got yours either way…” he grumbled.

“Only because you got me off before I even touched you,” Elsa giggled.

“Are you complaining?” His tone was incredulous and playful, and Elsa smiled, nibbling on his neck.

“I suppose not,” she murmured. “It really was incredible.”

“It was for me too.”

“I do my best,” Elsa said happily. They basked in the glow for a few minutes, Elsa content to lay here with Heins until the world came to a stop, but after a while, Heins asked a question.

“Hey Elsa… Earlier… when you were facing away from me… you’ve never done that before- you know, let me see your scars like that. It was incredible, don’t get me wrong, but… why now? What’s different?”

Elsa stayed quiet for a while, trying to think of the best way to answer, or even how to begin. “Heins… You know how I said Ciri suggested this because she’s been staying with me at night?”

“Yeah…”

“That was true, but not the whole truth.” She swallowed. This was going to be hard to say. Heins let go of her and leaned back to look into her eyes, concern filling his gaze. Elsa wiped her eye before a tear gathering there could fall. “We all talked today about- we being Anna, Ciri, and me- about what’s going to happen next. What happened to the others made Ciri… well, she wanted to tell us about Tom…”

“Who’s Tom?” Heins asked quietly.

“A boy Ciri’s age. He was the one who helped Ciri in the Southern Isles. Ciri had fallen in love with him, and he with her- or at least an adolescent version of love. She had a crush on him from the moment they met, and just a day and a half in, Ciri couldn’t take lying to him any more, so she told him who she was and what she was doing there, and then they kissed. Right after that… he was murdered in front of her eyes. That’s a large part of why she’s been so traumatized. She blames herself for his, and the rest of his family’s, deaths.”

“Oh my god,” Heins muttered, looking distraught, then Elsa continued.

“She was mature enough to realize that while she mourned him, she didn’t know him well enough to truly miss  _ him _ . Rather, most of her grief revolved around the loss of what he represented- infinite potential, a chance of happiness, a chance to see where their relationship may have gone. She said… if she’d known he would die, she would have told him how she felt right away, and maybe she’d have less regrets that way.”

“Poor girl… she said all that?”

Elsa nodded. “In not so many words, yes. She couldn’t find the words, but it's what she was trying to say. The reason… I did that… The whole reason I brought you out here, was…” Elsa bit back a sob, swallowed, then continued. “It was to be close to you one last time… and I wanted to do something new for you, some tiny way to make it different, make it special, because… it may be the last chance we ever get.” 


	97. Crimes of the Empire: Anna - One More Time

“So? Did they go?” Kristoff asked Anna, when she pulled her head back in their tent.

“Yeah,” Anna said with a wide smile. 

“Good for them,” Kristoff mused. “They need it. Especially that sister of yours.”

“How do you mean?” Anna asked, sitting down on the bed near Kristoff’s head- stage one of her plan. He laid his head down on her lap, and Anna lovingly stroked his hair and face.

“Well, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with everything that’s been going on. For better or worse, she wears the weight of the world around her neck, more than any of us, plus, she’s been working so hard to help Ciri. When’s the last time you think she put herself first?”

Anna snorted. “Try the last time she put herself in the top ten.”

“Exactly,” Kristoff agreed. “I think it’ll do them both some serious good.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Anna sighed. “What about us?”

“What about us?” Kristoff asked.

“Don’t you think it could do some good for us, too?”

“What could?”

Anna groaned exasperatedly. “You’re damn clueless, you know that?”

“What are you talking about?”

Anna rolled her eyes. Subtlety was not her husband’s strong suit, and she had a clear goal in mind for tonight. “Kristoff, I love you to death, but sometimes you are as dense as the rocks you move. Let me give you a hint- try to keep up, okay?” With her left hand, she pulled her waistband forward, and with her right, she took Kristoff’s hand and thrust it down her pants between her legs.

“Holy  _ shit _ , Anna,” Kristoff gasped. Anna snuggled up to his side as he put his arm around her, pulling her close. “Where the hell did that come from?”

Anna giggled. “I take it you enjoyed it?” she asked, running one finger back and forth across Kristoff’s chest. 

“It was… incredible.”

“I’m glad you approve,” Anna said, smiling. 

“I did, but… where did all this come from? Why tonight?”

He wasn’t letting her dodge the question, and she could feel it puncture her mood like a pin- but he didn’t know. She couldn’t blame him.

“Hey, Anna- you okay?” he asked, sounding worried. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing!” Anna said as brightly as she could, but even as she did, she could feel a tear leak from the corner of her eye and run onto Kristoff’s shoulder.

“Anna?”

“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice catching. She wiped her eyes. “I… love you, Kristoff. More than anything.” 

“I love you too, Anna. What’s wrong, baby?”

Anna sniffed, and buried her face in Kristoff’s side, trying to gather the words to express her tumultuous feelings. After a few moments, she sat up. She wanted to be close to Kristoff, but at the same time, his presence that close was suffocating somehow. Instead, she sat cross-legged on the bed, facing him with her head in her hands, and he turned onto his side, resting on his elbow, watching her with concern. 

“When Elsa, Ciri and I were looking for a good spot to bury the others, Ciri told us a bit more about what happened to her in the Southern Isles. Turns out… that little girl fell in love.”

“Huh?” Kristoff blinked in such earnest surprise that Anna couldn’t help but smile, but it faded in seconds.

“I don’t think it was ‘true love’, exactly. Just a teenage crush, you know? But… well, he was in the house that caught fire.”

“Oh- ohh….” Kristoff said, his face falling as he absorbed what Anna had said. 

“She felt alone after thinking she lost all of us, and he had helped her see that she didn’t have to be alone forever. They even kissed. And then… he was stabbed through the heart right in front of Ciri.”

“Those fucking bastards,” Kristoff muttered. “That poor kid… and poor Ciri…”

“I know. She told me and Elsa that if she had known what was coming, she would have told him she liked him straight away- she did, too. She liked him as soon as she met him, and he liked her, but she didn’t say anything at first. She said if she’d told him right away, she might have fewer regrets now.”

“That’s horrible,” Kristoff muttered. “But… what does that have to do with tonight?”

“I-” Anna’s words caught in her throat, but then Kristoff reached out and took her hand, his thumb running over the back of it tenderly, lovingly. It was enough to settle Anna, at least to the point she could speak again. “Tomorrow, the rest of the Queensguard are arriving here. Then we’re heading to Arendelle, to either kill Hans… or die trying. I don’t think we’ll get another chance to be together, not like this, until then. So… I wanted to share this with you… one last time… before the end.”


	98. Return of the Queen: Ciri - If

Ciri had lied through her teeth to both Elsa and Heins. She had known full well that there was an exactly zero percent chance she would be able to sleep on her own tonight. But she also knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that if one of them were to die, and it was Ciri’s fault that they had not had the chance to be close with one another at least one more time, she’d spiral farther and faster than ever before, and probably would have no chance whatsoever of pulling out of it. And so, for the sake of those she held most dear, she did her best not to scream too loud when the nightmares swarmed her, as the beasts tore her apart, as she watched her family betray her, as she watched Tom and his family die, over and over, as the night slowly turned to day.

* * *

“Ciri? May I come in?”

Elsa’s voice sounded different than it had all night, and it took Ciri a moment to realize that she hadn’t  _ really  _ heard Elsa even once that night. It was only the monstrous Elsa from her nightmares she’d been hearing. This was the real one. Hopefully.

“Yes,” Ciri said, after a far too long pause, but Elsa didn’t mention it. She came in through the tent’s flap and let it flutter closed behind her, and Ciri tried and failed to suppress a gasp. Elsa wasn’t wearing anything particularly different, her traveling clothes, leather armor, sword on her hip, and her hair was done up in a messy ponytail as she often had. She wore no makeup or jewelry. There should be no reason she looked any different today than most any other day. But she did. Everything about her was different. She carried herself straighter and prouder than Ciri had ever seen. Her eyes had taken on an otherworldly shine. It felt like Ciri was seeing the true Elsa for the first time, the fierce Queen of Arendelle, the real human embodiment of Shiva.

“What is it?” Elsa asked, suddenly appearing self-conscious, holding her arms over her stomach. 

“Uh- nothing!” Ciri blurted. “It’s just… you look different. But it’s a good different!” she elaborated.

“Really?” Elsa asked, looking down at herself, but then she said, “I guess I feel a little different. It’s like… Never mind,” she said, shaking her head and grinning. “It’s funny- You know Anna said that same thing to me once? That feels like so long ago…” she trailed off wistfully. She seemed to lose focus for a moment, lost in a memory, then she shook her head again and looked back at Ciri, frowning at something she saw.

“What is it?” It was Ciri’s turn to be self-conscious.

“You didn’t sleep at all last night, did you?”

“I did,” Ciri lied, and then her body immediately betrayed her, and she yawned widely. “I didn’t,” she admitted. “But it’s okay-”

Her excuse was cut short by Elsa sitting down next to her and wrapping her in a hug. Ciri put her arms around Elsa in return, and they sat like that for a short while, before Ciri said, “I take it last night went well then?”

“Well...” Elsa said, breaking away from Ciri and blushing, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “In a word, yes. And thank you for that. Truly. I needed that. I needed the reminder. But that’s not why I wanted to talk to you.”

“What do you want to talk about?”

Elsa turned further, to face Ciri, taking both Ciri’s hands in hers. She opened her mouth, but closed it again as she examined Ciri’s nails. “They’re starting to come back, I see,” she said, indicating the nails Harold had ripped out, where there now grew very short, stubby fingernails that didn’t even cover half her nail bed- but they were growing back. Ciri nodded, not sure what to say. “Sorry,” Elsa said. “I didn’t mean to get distracted. Look, Ciri…” Elsa was struggling to say whatever it was she wanted to say, and Ciri stroked the back of her hands with her thumbs, trying to offer support through the simple act. Maybe it worked, because Elsa smiled gratefully at her.

“I’ve… made a lot of mistakes, in a lot of different ways. A lot of my mistakes have ended up getting a lot of people killed. People I’m responsible for. Friends. Family. People like Silas and Elsie. Liam and Alarik, two other members of the Queensguard, one killed at the Battle of Corona, the other killed during the Fall. General Raston and his son, both killed securing our escape from Arendelle. Jakob and Shana, two magicians… I never found either of them. Horst and Zack, townspeople from a village Hans destroyed for no other reason than that he felt like it, killed in battle when they volunteered themselves to Arendelle’s defense. My cousin, Rapunzel, and her husband, Eugene, killed after Rapunzel tried to make a deal with Hans to save her people.”

“Why are you telling me all this?” Ciri asked in a low voice. She didn’t want to interrupt, but she wasn’t sure how much more she could listen to about Elsa’s friends dying before she started to panic. Even now, she could feel the panic beast move about restlessly in its slumber.

“Because very soon, more of the people I care about are going to die. I may die.”

“You don’t know that…” Ciri said, but she knew in her heart that Elsa was right. They were beginning their journey to Arendelle today. Once they arrived, very soon after that, everything would end, for better or worse. Four deposed royals and a handful of allies against the entire might of the Empire…

“And I don’t mean to bring up bad memories, Ciri, I really don’t,” Elsa continued, ignoring Ciri’s weak protest. “But when you told me and Anna yesterday about Tom…” Ciri’s blood froze, and Elsa did not fail to notice. “I maintain that you were too hard on yourself about that entire situation- but that’s not why I bring it up. I bring it up because within the day and a half you knew Tom, you didn’t get to say everything you wanted to say. I don’t want that to happen with you and me. We’ve been together for months- I’ve waited too long as it is to tell you these things. I just don’t want you or I to have regrets if...” Elsa broke off and took a breath. Ciri clenched her jaw, trying to keep it together. She couldn’t stand to think about Elsa d-dy-

She couldn’t even think the word. 

“Through all those mistakes,” Elsa continued, her tone soft. “All those regrets I have, it still led to something that’s made me very happy. You.”

“Me?”

“You. I am very glad to have met you, Ciri. I genuinely believe that if not for you, we would not have come this far.”

“What? But I didn’t do anything,” Ciri said, befuddled as to how Elsa could think that.

“On the contrary,” Elsa said, smiling. “You’ve done a great deal. Leave aside the fact that if you had not opened your door to us, Anna and I would surely have been killed in Arendelle. You are the reason we fight.”

Ciri didn’t say anything. She had no idea what to say. She hadn’t done anything like what Elsa was claiming, except for the door part, but even then, she had faith that Elsa would have found another way out. 

“You didn’t know it, but I’m telling the truth, Ciri. When we first reunited, the bad blood from our last parting almost certainly would have brought us to blows if not for you being there. You were that unknown, that stabilizer that forced us to think about how we behaved in front of you.”

“But that’s not me doing anything,” Ciri pointed out. “Where are you going with this?”

“When we were on the way to Weselton, do you remember the night we stopped early and everyone was jumping around on my ice?”

“Yeah…”

“We stopped early because of you. We had _ so much _ fun that night, because of you. We were able to enjoy one night of peace and silly fun, because of you. We wouldn’t have done all that if not for you.”

“Well now it just sounds like I helped waste time!”

“Don’t underestimate the effect that can have on someone who’s spent two years in constant fear and stress,” Elsa admonished. “Then there was the time I gave you the rose. Do you remember that?”

“Of course,” Ciri mumbled. How could she forget something like that?

“That was the first genuine smile I’d seen from you. That kind of smile that lights up a person’s whole face, you know?” She looked at Ciri, a smile on her own face, though this wasn’t the radiant smile she described, it was more… nostalgic. “I swore to myself then that I wouldn’t stop fighting until you could smile like that all the time. After Weselton, when I tried to send you away, you didn’t give up on me. You forgave me, and because of you and Anna, I was finally able to let you in, to stop pushing people away all the time, to stop falling into that destructive pattern. After that, when we were all at each other’s throats, you kept us going. You were the reason we made it through that without killing each other. Do you see what I’m getting at?”

“Umm….”

“For two years, if you’d asked any of us what we were fighting for, do you know what we’d have said? ‘To bring down the Empire and restore Arendelle’. Do you know what we’d say now?” Ciri shook her head. “‘To see Ciri grow up, safe and happy.’”

“But that makes no sense,” Ciri said, growing frustrated. “I’m no one, I’m not special, I’m just some peasant girl! Why would you guys fight for  _ that _ ?”

“Ciri, I mean this in the nicest possible way, but… You’re right. You are ‘just some peasant girl’. You’re so, so much more than that, but yes, you are technically just 'some girl'. But that’s why we’re fighting for you. It’s so easy to lose track of what you’re fighting for, or get overwhelmed, when you have some lofty goal like “Bring down the Empire’. But making one girl happy? We can do that.” Elsa’s face grew more solemn. “You know… when we went to Aalborg, we didn’t do it to find you. We thought you were dead- I thought I saw your body with my own eyes. We didn’t even go there because we needed information about the Air Temple- we didn’t even  _ think _ about that until we were already on our way. We went there for one reason- revenge. There wasn’t even a discussion. There was no need for one. All four of us thought you had died, and the only thing on any of our minds was killing the bastard responsible for taking you from us. Even though we knew we could still bring down the Empire without you… we had failed in our goal, and we wanted to make those bastards pay for it.” 

Elsa fell into silence, and Ciri did not break it. She’d had no idea she meant any of this to anyone. She knew they all liked her well enough, and wanted to protect her, but she’d always thought that was more just that she was some kid wrapped up in all this with nowhere to go. More an arrangement of necessity than anything else, any halfway decent person would not turn their backs on a young girl and let her get killed, so they tolerated her presence, but she didn’t mean much more than that. 

“I guess what I’m really trying to say…” Elsa said after a while. “Is thank you. You’ve done more for us than any of us could have ever dreamed, and more than you thought, as it seems. And… I love you, Ciri.”

While Elsa looked at her with a warm, gentle gaze, it took Ciri a moment to realize why those words struck so hard.  _ Wait… she’s never actually said that to me before! _ They had discussed how much they cared for each other, even referred to each other as people they loved- but neither of them had actually said those words to the other. It shouldn’t make Ciri as happy as it did- nothing changed, not really-, but at the same time, it had changed everything. “I love you too!” Ciri exclaimed. Elsa seized her shoulders and pulled her into her arms, her expression one of pure joy. They hugged each other tightly, and Ciri wondered if her mother was watching her. Would she be mad?

“That’s not all,” Elsa said, releasing her grip on Ciri and moving back to look into her eyes once more, keeping her hands on Ciri’s shoulders. “After this is all done… if we win… I’d like for you to move into the castle with me.”

Ciri gaped at her. “With you?” she asked breathlessly. “Can that happen? Is that even- waaaait a minute.” A thought had just occurred to her. “Does that mean I’d have to work as a maid or something? Because I will, I just-”

Elsa burst out laughing. Ciri could feel her face growing hot with embarrassment. “Well I don’t know, okay!? Can a commoner live in a castle  _ without _ being a servant? I don’t know!”

“Goodness, I’m sorry, sweetheart,” Elsa chuckled, wiping away a tear and catching her breath, letting out periodic giggles as she got herself back under control. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you, It’s perfectly natural to assume that, if I’m honest- I just didn’t expect that.”

“You haven’t answered the question,” Ciri accused.

“No,” Elsa said, shaking her head firmly to reinforce the point. “You would not have to work as a maid or any other position in the castle. It would not be a problem for you to live there as a commoner. That said…” Elsa looked nervous, and Ciri’s heart skipped a beat and leapt into her throat at the same time. Surely Elsa could not be about to say what Ciri thought she was going to say? “I don’t mean to dump all this on you at once, Ciri, but… like I said. I don’t know what’s going to happen next. I don’t want to have regrets. But… if you want… would you like to… join my family? Officially?”

Well. She said exactly what Ciri thought she was going to say. Ciri stared at her, frowning, confused, overwhelmed. She could feel how uncomfortable Elsa was waiting for Ciri’s reply, but she was too stunned to say anything. 

“It’s okay if you don’t want to,” Elsa muttered. “I just thought, with everything about to happen, I’d ask, just in case-”

Ciri’s words were still failing her, but she couldn’t let Elsa think she didn’t want to. Time for plan B. She launched herself at Elsa, threw her arms around her shoulders and squeezed, her momentum knocking Elsa off balance, and they tumbled off the low bed onto the ground, Elsa’s arms around Ciri now, and Elsa’s laughter ringing in Ciri’s ears as she cried, overwhelmed by Elsa’s offer. 

“I take it that’s a yes?” Elsa asked, still laughing and hugging Ciri tight. Ciri still couldn’t speak, so she settled for nodding. For a brief, shining moment, everything was right with the world.

“Elsa?” Anna’s voice came floating in from through the entrance of the tent. “Queensguard’s here, you gotta see this, come out here- oh, wait, she say yes?”

“Yes,” Elsa called back happily, sitting back up, still hugging Ciri, but that shining moment had popped. Ciri was spiraling. If- She was basically going to be a princess of  _ some  _ sort, that was great. If- She was going to live with Elsa, and that was fantastic. If- Best of all, she was going to have a real family again- really, officially, have a family, people who loved her and who she loved, to go back home to when things got hard, to have as support when she needed it. If.

If.

If Arendelle was restored.

If. 

If Hans’s plan was halted.

If.

If Elsa didn’t die in the process.

“Ciri, let’s- Ciri? What’s wrong?” Elsa, alarmed, looked back at CIri, who realized too late that her despair was etched on her face.

“Nothing,” she lied, plastering on a smile. She didn’t want to ruin this for Elsa. “I’m fine.”

“Ciri.” Elsa wasn’t buying it. 

“Can’t you just… not go fight?” Ciri asked.

“Ciri-”

“I don’t care about all that stuff. I just want to be with you. I don’t want to lose you…” Ciri said, fighting valiantly, but unsuccessfully, to keep her voice from shaking. “None of it’s  _ worth _ it if you d-d-died! Please, Elsa, I can’t-”

“Ciri,” Elsa said, halting Ciri’s pleas in their tracks. “I’m sorry. I truly am. If Hans is successful, there will be nowhere safe left for us to go.”

“Then why do  _ you _ have to go?” Ciri asked, changing tack, trying to find any way to keep Elsa from going. “Why does it have to be you?!”

Elsa did not seem moved in the slightest by Ciri’s pleas. She looked more resolute than ever. For as long as Ciri had known her, Elsa had never been this sure of herself, this confident in who she was, in what she was supposed to be. There was not a trace of doubt or fear in her eyes, and Ciri’s words fell on deaf ears, but somehow, it didn’t hurt her feelings at all. In fact, it only made Ciri look up to Elsa even more. “Because I have a duty to Arendelle. Because I have a duty to everyone who’s been hurt by the Empire, because I wasn’t able to stop it. Because… I’m a Spirit. I  _ have _ to do this. This is my destiny.”

As much as Ciri tried to deny it to herself, Elsa was right. She had to go, and Ciri would just have to deal with it. She dropped her eyes, sniffling as tears rolled down her cheeks. “You better come back then, you hear me?” Ciri pleaded. She hated how weak her voice sounded. “You  _ better _ come back.”

Elsa embraced Ciri, and her hand ran up and down her back. Ciri could feel some of her fear and doubt melting away at her touch. “I will.”

“You promise?”

“Yes, Ciri. I promise.” And there was something about Elsa, the way she was carrying herself with such confidence, the way she seemed like she could take on the whole world and win, that convinced Ciri. She would come back. Elsa gave Ciri another squeeze, a kiss on the forehead, then released her. “Get changed. We’re leaving soon.”

“Okay,” Ciri said, surprising herself that her voice did not shake, and though there were tears on her face, her eyes were no longer filled with them. As much as Ciri might selfishly want otherwise, this was what Elsa had been born to do. She had her cry- now it was time to make Elsa proud of her. “Elsa,” Ciri called, as Elsa bent down to exit the tent. She looked over her shoulder at Ciri. “You’re… gonna save the world.”

Elsa smiled. “That’s the plan, sweetheart.” She left the tent, then… “Holy  _ shit! _ ”

Ciri leapt to her feet and scampered outside, throwing the flap aside and bursting out of the tent. “Elsa- what’s-  _ what!?” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love this chapter. Those that wanted Elsa to adopt Ciri- you have no idea how much I've been looking forward to posting this.


	99. Return of the Queen: Kristoff - Exceeding Expectations

When Kristoff had first told the Queensguard what he wanted them to do, he wasn’t sure if it would be possible. He was giving them secondhand information two years out of date. There was no guarantee the equipment wouldn’t have been found by now, scavenged and sold, or perhaps held on to, as regretful keepsakes, or trophies, maybe, depending on who found them? He’d gotten the information by accident, if he was truthful. A passing comment from the others as they talked about where they’d been after the Fall. None of them really expected to ever see those old things again, so when Elsa talked about sending the Queensguard throughout the land, he was struck with inspiration. It was a shot in the dark, but still- no harm in asking, right? What he absolutely had  _ not _ expected was for the Queensguard to have a one hundred percent success rate. 

“Holy  _ shit! _ ” Elsa gasped when she came out of the tent, clapping a hand to her mouth and her eyes widening in shock, and Kristoff and the Queensguard shared a grin. Laying on the ground before Elsa were four gleaming sets of silver and white plate armor. With each set lay three more things- a cape, a crown, and a blade. 

“Elsa!” Ciri burst out, erupting from the tent behind Elsa. “What’s-  _ what!?”  _ For a moment, Ciri stood stunned, staring at the armor, then Kristoff had a sinking realization. They hadn’t yet told the Queensguard what had happened to Ciri. 

“Ciri!” Baldur cried, bounding forward to greet her. “It’s so good to-”

“Baldur, wait-” Anna cut in, jumping in between Baldur and Ciri, but it was too late. With a strangled squeak of fear, Ciri darted back into the tent. “Shit.”

“It’s okay, he didn’t know,” Elsa said. “I’ll calm her down.” As Elsa went back into the tent, Baldur took a step back, looking shocked and guilty, and Leila came up beside him and put her hand on his shoulder with a sympathetic squeeze.

“What the hell?” Baldur said, looking both stunned at Ciri’s reaction and guilty for causing it. “What’s wrong with Ciri?”

“Some stuff happened while you guys were gone,” Heins said, stepping forward. “We don’t have a lot of time, so I’ll be brief. First… Silas and Elsie are dead.”

“What?” There was a collective cry around the group, a chorus of shock and disbelief. 

“Ignis too,” Heins continued, to more groans of despair and sorrow.

“Know this, though,” Kristoff said, and the group turned to look at him. “Silas died fighting, and protecting Elsie the best he could.”

“Son of a bitch,” Alan muttered, staring at the ground, looking dejected. “Out of all of us, I thought Silas would actually have a chance to survive this…”

“And Elsie!” Leila snarled, looking furious. “What did she ever do to anyone?  _ Nothing! _ ”

“Neither did Ignis,” Baldur said quietly, contrasting his girlfriend’s rage. “We got to really like that guy when we brought him here. Man, the shit he knew… it was like talking to an encyclopedia.”

“What about Ciri?” Alan asked.

“Yeah, what happened to her?” Cari added, stepping up beside Alan. “Is she okay?”

“We got shipwrecked when we got to the Southern Isles,” Heins said. “I’ll tell you more on the road, we need to get going, but for now, know that Ciri was captured and Harold fucked with her head. She has trouble distinguishing between nightmare and reality- Elsa’s the only one she’s okay around, the rest of us are… inconsistent, and you guys will surely be a no-go for now. Give her space, she’ll work it out, and don’t talk to her unless she talks to you first.”

“God  _ dammit _ ,” Leila spat, clenching her fists.

“If it makes you feel any better, we made the fucker pay for it.”

“Good,” Cari said savagely. 

“I’m sorry, all of you,” Kristoff said, moving to the center of the group, and Heins took a respectful step back, gesturing that he had the floor. Kristoff nodded at him, a gesture that was returned.. “We’re on the clock.” As quickly as he could, he summarized what they had learned, the location of the Source, how Hans was controlling it, and what he was trying to do with it, as well as their success in acquiring the fourth Spirit.

“So you can do magic now?” Baldur asked Heins, sounding a little impressed.

“I can do a thing or two,” Heins said, flipping upside down and hovering there for a moment before righting himself.

“You can  _ fly!? _ ”

While the Queensguard was gaping over their now magical leader, Anna slipped her hand into Kristoff’s. “Hey.”

“Hey yourself.”

“How the hell did they manage to track this stuff down?” she asked, nudging one of the sets of armor with her foot.

“I can’t believe it worked,” Kristoff admitted. “Remember back before we left for the Southern Isles? I asked the Queensguard for something.”

“Oh yeah! Wait,  _ you _ asked them to do this?”

“I had them poke around,” Kristoff said modestly. “I realized a little while back that I knew where everyone had last stashed their gear, just from talking about stuff. So I told them where to look and the Queensguard did the rest. I’m surprised- can’t believe they found all of it.”

“Wow,” Anna said, looking up at him, impressed. “They never told me… 

“It wasn’t like that, Anna, they weren’t intentionally keeping you in the dark. It was just random conversations, they happened to come up.”

“I know, it’s okay, I just didn’t know you knew. You know where mine was, where was yours?”

“Gave it to the trolls. Meant to pick it up while we were there, but…”

“Yeah...” Anna muttered. “What about Elsa’s?”

Kristoff cocked an eyebrow at her. “The North Mountain,” they said together. 

“And Heins? Somewhere in the Southern Isles?” 

“Good guess, sweetie, but no. His was in some town in the middle of nowhere, in the cellar of a rug shop. Apparently it’s where he bumped into Elsie and got that whole thing started.”

“I can’t believe no one else found them. But…” She frowned. “Weren’t they pretty beat up? Mine at least didn’t get fixed after the Fall, but that’s mine right there and it looks fine.”

“That was my doing,” Alan said, striding up to Kristoff and clapping a hand on his shoulder. “Couldn’t let you guys go into battle looking like washed up mercs. Bumped into an old friend- I think you know him. Big guy, good blacksmith, name of Horst?”

“What?!” both Kristoff and Anna exclaimed. “Horst is alive?” Kristoff asked in a breathless voice.

“Well, he’s not going by Horst anymore, and he doesn’t do armor or weapons to get out of doing that for the Empire, but yeah,” Alan said, grinning. “I asked around for blacksmiths, and the one everyone pointed me towards some guy named Harry. Cari and I went to see if he was friendly to the Empire, if not, maybe he’d be willing to fix up your gear a bit. Imagine my surprise when Horst turns around.”

“No wonder it looks so good,” Anna said. “Pretty sure that man’s as much a magician as any of us.” Anna looked around, twisting her mouth to the side in that cute way she did when she was looking for something. “Aww,” she groaned, slumping a bit. “You guys don’t have yours.”

“We don’t need it,” Alan said. “Most of ours were taken by the Empire when we got captured, and Baldur’s got dumped in a city street somewhere when Elsie dressed him up as Empire. The Queensguard isn’t important here. You guys are.” He grinned. “We’ve been spreading the word. The whole fuckin’  _ Empire _ knows you’re alive, well, and ready to kick Hans’s ass. We started getting places to tell them about it, just to find they already knew and had already rebelled. It’s full-on civil war out there right now. People are  _ pissed _ . They’ve been waiting for this chance for two years, same as us. Once they found out this is it, they damn near wiped the Empire out, at least in the smaller villages, where the Empire didn’t have much of a permanent presence anyway. Big cities are still firmly Empire territory, including each capital, as well as a couple towns right nearby, but the rest of the kingdoms are pretty well Loyalist controlled, at least until the Empire marches out from the capitals- then again, even as we speak, there’s a  _ lot _ of Loyalists heading for Arendelle.”

“Loyalist?”

“Oh, right,” Alan said. “When we were fighting the Empire after the Fall, we had a bit of help from a few people. We started just calling them Loyalists, because they’re loyal to the old world, y’know? It must have spread, that’s what the rebels are calling themselves.”

“How are they organized?” Anna asked. “Will we have an army waiting for us when we get there?”

“Not exactly. They’re not a disciplined army or anything, but they’re all loyal to you four. A lot of them will be there when we get there, and I’ll bet you can make some sort of organized army out of them.”

“Hope we don’t disappoint,” Anna said, fidgeting with her hands in front of her stomach. 

“You won’t,” Alan said confidently. He shivered from excitement. “Man, I didn’t think it would be so soon. We got a lot done out there, but we didn’t learn anything about the Source. Glad you guys did.”

There was a rustle of fabric, and then Elsa and Ciri exited the tent. Alan opened his mouth to say something, but Kristoff stomped on his foot, and he closed it again, looking embarrassed. Ciri stood with her head hung, her hands clasped in front of her, and Kristoff could see her shoulders trembling where Elsa had her arm around them. “It’s really good to see you all,” Ciri said. Her voice was soft, but unlike her shoulders, it was steady as a rock. “I’m sorry about… how I am right now. Please be patient.” Baldur opened his mouth this time, and Leila whacked him before he could speak. “It… really is good to see you. I know it- it may not seem like it, but- it is. I’m r-really happy you-you’re all okay.”

Kristoff could pinpoint the exact moment Ciri’s rehearsed speech came to an end and she began improvising, but she had gotten through it. She was still standing there as though waiting though, and Elsa cautiously indicated for them to respond. 

“I didn’t mean to frighten you before,” Baldur said, a slight hesitation between each word as if he were afraid Ciri might combust if she heard too many in one go. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”

“Me too,” Cari said, followed by agreement from everyone in the Queensguard.

“Th-Thank you.”

Elsa led Ciri out of sight of most of the Queensguard, but Kristoff could still see as Ciri leaned against a tree, put her head in her hands, and started to cry, shaking and trembling, as Elsa tried to offer comfort.

“What the fuck they do to her, Kristoff?” Alan muttered, who could also see Ciri, but averted his eyes anyway. 

“I don’t know. All I know is they messed with her dreams, made her think she was awake when she wasn’t. Made her have nightmares. They even ripped out some fingernails in some fucked up way to keep her complacent.”

“Seriously?” Alan said, looking disgusted. Kristoff nodded. “You said it was Harold, yeah?” Kristoff nodded again. “Son of a  _ bitch _ ,” he hissed. “We should have fucking killed him that day in the Southern Isles.”

“I thought the same thing. But it’s over now, and she is safe- physically, at least, and she has been getting better.”

“That’s something, at least.”

“Yeah... Come on, help me with her tent.”


	100. Return of the Queen: Anna - The Only Way

“Anna, I need to talk to you.” Heins brought his mount trotting up alongside hers as they made their way across a large open field of swaying golden wheat. The other members of the company were arranged in small clumps across a half mile. “How much do you remember about talking with Ifrit?”

“Very little,” Anna replied. “I remember it hurt- a lot. I remember knowing I had to embrace my anger to overcome the Trial, but beyond that, almost nothing.” She peered at him. “Why do you ask?”

“I think I remember a few things,” he said, frowning in thought, “but I can’t be certain I’m not making them up. It’s like trying to remember a dream, you never know if it’s accurate or if your waking mind is distorting it.”

“I know what you mean,” Anna agreed. “Why don’t you tell me what you think you remember?”

“Well, here’s the thing- it’s stuff I couldn’t possibly know- but I had to have gotten the idea from somewhere, right? Just to check, we don’t know where the Dreamwalker is, do we?”

“No, not a clue.”

“Well, I think I may know. I think Valefor helped me figure it out.”

“Really!? Where?”

“Well, I think- he’s how Hans is manipulating the Source. We know the Source is alive in some regard, like the Spirits, right?” Anna nodded.

“And he’s making it think it’s doing one thing, while it’s really giving Hans power, like Elsa back when we saved her?”

“Precisely.”

“Woah. Have you told Elsa about this?” Heins shook his head. It seemed that he was avoiding Anna’s gaze. “Why not? Don’t you think she needs to know?”

“Of course I do, I just- I wanted to talk to you because I thought you were the most likely to take it seriously. Elsa never spoke to Shiva, and Kristoff…. I just felt more comfortable bringing it up to you first.”

Anna didn’t know why this made her feel so warm inside. “Thank you, Heins,” she said.

“Yeah, well-”

“No, I mean it,” Anna insisted. “Thank you for trusting in me like that.”

“I- … You’re welcome. So what do you think?”

“I think it makes perfect sense,” Anna said, shrugging. “If the Source has got a mind, who’s to say the Dreamwalker wouldn’t be able to manipulate it? It would explain where he’s been for so long, and it would explain how Hans is able to siphon it in the first place. But if that’s the case, how the hell do we take out the Dreamwalker?”

“Well, believe it or not, I  _ think _ Valefor told me that too. Remember what we planned back before the Fall?”

Anna frowned, twisting her mouth to the side, chewing on her lip. “Martha!” she exclaimed, snapping her fingers.

“Yep. Valefor- I think, anyway- told me she’s still alive, in Arendelle somewhere.” Anna looked down at her horse's mane, the information Heins had just given her swirling around in her mind. The Dreamwalker is with the Source. The Source is in Arendelle. Martha is in Arendelle. And then, quite suddenly, it all fell into place. It was as though a bright line had been drawn from one piece to the other, forming a path. She could see it so clearly, the way, the  _ only _ way, leading to victory. And all it would cost was those she loved.

“We need to talk to Elsa,” Anna said in a dull voice. “Go to her, I’ll get Kristoff and meet you there.”

“Anna?”

“Just do it!” Anna spat, yanking the reins and cantering over to Kristoff, who was riding alongside Alan and Cari. “Kristoff, come with me.”

“Everything okay?” Cari asked, looking around alarmed. Her and Alan’s hands went to their weapons.

“Everything’s fine,” Anna said, her throat tightening up when she saw the two members of the Queensguard. “Just need to borrow my husband for a bit.” Without waiting for a reply, she headed off towards where Elsa and Heins were trotting side by side. Ciri was riding on her own a dozen yards behind Elsa, her eyes downcast. Anna guided her steed to fall in beside Elsa, then Kristoff came up on her other side.

“I’ve got an idea,” Anna muttered, before anyone else could ask her what was going on. “About how to beat Hans. Heins, tell them.”

“Anna, what’s wrong?” Elsa asked. Anna shook her head, clenching her jaw. Her stomach churned. Heins summarized what he had remembered about his conversation with Valefor.

“I’m surprised you remember that much,” Kristoff said. “I can’t remember anything about Titan.”

“I think he let me,” Heins said thoughtfully. “It’s like… he wanted me to know that stuff, so he let me remember it.”

“Good thing he did,” Elsa sighed. “Anna, what’s this idea of yours?” 

Anna swallowed hard, steeling herself. “Well…”

The longer Anna spoke, the more ill she felt, and the more unease she could see on the other’s faces.

“I don’t know, Anna,” Kristoff said when she had finished. “There’s a lot that can go wrong, and even if it goes perfectly… that’s probably a one-way trip for the Queensguard.”

“Not necessarily, but… they’d agree to it either way,” Heins croaked, then cleared his throat. “I guarantee it.”

“Would it even work?” Kristoff asked. “Who’s to say he won’t just use his powers on Martha and it’s all for nothing?”

“Think about it,” Anna said, fighting down a wave of guilt so intense she felt momentarily nauseous. “Jakob couldn’t teleport with her, Shana’s plants couldn’t touch her without dying, and Elsa’s ice melted when it touched her. Why would his powers be any different?”

“Because it’s  _ magic _ ,” Kristoff said. “You can’t assume that just because  _ some _ things work one way that  _ all _ things work that way.”

“I think Anna’s right,” Elsa said, the first thing she’d said since Anna finished explaining her plan. “No other magic has been able to affect her.”

“It’s just- there’s so many unknowns,” Heins said. “We’re putting all our eggs in this basket- if it doesn’t work, the world is finished.”

“I’m open to other ideas,” Anna said, and she really was- she was desperate for other ideas. “But we don’t have much time. I think it’s the only way.”

“Heins, do you think Hans is dumb enough to fall for this?” Kristoff asked, changing his angle of attack.

“As powerful as Hans is, even his power rides on the people believing he’s the strongest. All tyrants fear the people they oppress. Think of all those guards in Aalborg- they turned on their masters as soon as the fighting started. What would happen if he denies the challenge? I don’t think he can afford to.”

“Won’t he just say it’s not a fair challenge with four on one?” Kristoff said. “Y’know, use that as an excuse?”

“It won’t be,” Elsa said quietly. Anna’s heart stopped. She turned slowly to face her sister. “It’s the only way.”

“Hang on,” Heins protested. “There’s no way-”

“I can do this,” Elsa said, her tone even and resolute. “He’ll never agree to a four on one. He’d have to agree to a duel. If he turns it down, he’d never be able to maintain his power. Why would people fight for him if he wouldn’t fight for them?”

“Elsa...”

Elsa turned to face Anna. “Anna… you used to believe in me so much. When you shouldn’t have. Now… when I actually feel like I’m capable… you don’t believe in me?”

“Elsa, I  _ do _ believe in you, but-”

“Then  _ believe in me _ ,” Elsa said. “This is the only way.” Her eyes bored into Anna’s, determined and unafraid. She heard a sigh from behind her.

“I don’t like letting you go on your own, Els, but… I believe in you.”

“I believe in you,” Heins said. Anna looked back and forth between Heins and Kristoff, incredulous.

“Guys, you’re supposed to be helping me!” Anna cried, her voice breaking. “I can’t lose you too, Elsa…” Anna whispered.

Elsa reached out and put a soft hand on Anna’s cheek. “You won’t. I promise. Believe in me.”

Neither Kristoff nor Heins would meet Anna’s eyes, but Elsa did. Her gaze was unwavering, without a trace of doubt or fear in her eyes. “I do.”


	101. Return of the Queen: Elsa - Magic Show

“Well. I’ll be damned.”

“Uh… wow.”

“Did… you know there’d be this many?”

“Didn’t have a clue.”

“What have I been telling you?” Alan said, riding up alongside the four Royals and grinning. “People are  _ pissed _ . And they’re all loyal to you.”

“Yeah, but I expected maybe a few hundred if we were lucky,” Elsa breathed. “Not… this,” she finished, gesturing down at the perhaps 3500 plus strong militia slash army stretched out on the plain before them, from their perch on a hilltop around eight miles from Arendelle.

“That might have been the case, had the Queensguard not been singing your praises,” Alan said, his chest swelling with pride. “A lot of people thought you had been in hiding for two years. When we told them what you’d been doing, that you’d never stopped fighting, any of you, and what you’ve accomplished, with the Spirits, killing Hubert and Harold… everything changed. I think a lot of people felt guilty that they rolled over and accepted the Empire so easily when they had never had anything but good treatment from the Kingdom before. And another thing, I guarantee you you’ve got the same thing outside Corona, Weselton, and Aalborg. But,” he added, his tone turning serious. “I also guarantee that it will all be for nothing if we don’t stop Hans. If he remains in power, the Empire  _ will  _ crush this rebellion. This is a flash fire- speed and surprise got us this far, nothing more. There’s not enough here to keep burning for long.”

“If we don’t stop Hans, the continued existence of the Empire will be the least of our problems,” Elsa muttered. 

“It’s the Queen!”

“The Queen!?”

“Your Majesty!”

“It appears we’ve been spotted,” Elsa said with a chuckle, as some of the closer Loyalists cheered and waved. The word spread like a brushfire, and Elsa could actually see the surge of people flowing their way through the camp as the assembled Loyalists craned to catch a glimpse of the elusive Royals.

“It’s time for something impressive,” Anna muttered to Elsa. “Think of the morale boost. We can all do something. Show them how powerful we are now, give them hope.”

“You’re right,” Elsa said, climbing off her horse and walking forward, fully cresting the hill so that as much of the camp could see her as possible. “Everyone ready?” she asked, as the others joined her.

“I’m not,” Heins muttered. “I’m still not as powerful as you guys, I can’t-”

His words were cut off by Elsa’s mouth pressing against his. “Focus,” she breathed as they separated. “ _ Focus _ . You can do this.  _ Focus. _ ” 

“... I’ll do my best.”

“No,” Elsa said, smiling. “You’ll do amazing.”

“What’s gotten into you lately, sis?” Anna asked, a look of amusement on her face.

“Not sure,” Elsa said, looking down at her hands. She’d never felt more comfortable in her own skin, never felt more sure of herself, of what she was doing. “It feels like… I’m finally doing what I’m supposed to be doing. That I’m where I’m meant to be.” She looked back up with a grin. “It feels good.”

With another sideways glance at the others, nodding at each in turn, it was time. Kristoff went first. With a stamp of his foot, a stone pedestal rose from the earth, taking the four of them with it, and every single eye in the camp was fixed on them. “Arendelle crest is on the front.”

Elsa acted next, throwing up enormous swirling flurries from both hands. “Keep those going, Elsa!” Anna said, raising her own hands, sending out thinner, sinuous jets of flame that twisted and turned around the towers of spinning snow and ice in a hypnotizing dance.

“Heins,” Kristoff said. “Show Hans  _ who he’s fucking with. _ ” Elsa, too busy with the dance of ice and fire to see what Heins was doing, at first thought Heins had frozen, or worse, was trying to do something, but nothing was happening. Then, despite the fact that it was a bright day, with only a few clouds, the sky began to darken.

The clouds that were there had begun to swirl over their heads, thickening, growing, darkening, until the fluffy white clouds had transformed into a vicious looking thundercloud, spinning and spiraling down towards them. “Is that a god damned tornado?!” Kristoff cried, astonished. “Don’t let that touch down-”

“Kristoff, shut the hell up,” Heins said, and now Elsa could feel him moving. She chanced a glance over her shoulder to see him swinging his arms in a circle over his head, gradually speeding up, tightening up the circle’s radius, and Elsa looked back up to see the tornado continuing to stretch down towards her and Anna’s dance.

“Connect them!” Elsa ordered, pushing her magic as high as it could go. Anna’s raced alongside, connecting with the funnel of Heins’s tornado, the fire, ice, and wind each losing their own distinct forms, instead joining together in a maelstrom of the elements. Right as Elsa was about to suggest Kristoff join in, a stream of earth flowed up, circling around the pillars of ice and fire and joining the others at the bottom of the tornado.

“How the hell do we end this?” Kristoff cried, his voice all but drowned out now by the storm of magic above them.

“I know!” Anna shouted. “Heins, Kristoff, on my mark, drop it, Elsa, make Arendelle’s sigil where they’re all connected!”

“What’s the signal?” Elsa yelled.

“You won’t miss it!”

“What- oh whatever, just do it soon!”

The signal, as it turned out, was very difficult to miss. Elsa could see a slightly thicker portion of flame make its way up the tower, and when it reached the point at which all their magic was connected, it erupted into a magnificent fireball, consuming the combinations of their magic. She saw the tornado wither and fade, she saw the dirt retreat back to earth, and knew exactly what Anna had in mind. As quickly as she could, spared by Anna not dumping much energy in the flame, Elsa created a floating crocus in the middle of the conflagration.

“Ready!” Elsa called, and Anna dropped her magic at once. The flames wisped out of existence, leaving the crocus gleaming in again-blue skies, shimmering like a diamond in the sun. She held the magic for a few seconds, then disintegrated it into snow, pushing it as far and wide across the sky as she was capable, then, finally, dropped her arms.

She had been so preoccupied with their impromptu magic show that she hadn’t paid any attention to how the Loyalists were reacting. The few that were close enough for Elsa to see clearly were staring up at the four of them, wide-eyed, but silent. Elsa had hoped for cheering, or applause, or  _ something _ , but all that happened is that she felt more and more uncomfortable as the silence stretched on. But then, she heard one man cry out, one simple word, but the word was picked up and repeated, at first few, then many, then a multitude of voices, roaring the same word, over and over.

“ARENDELLE!”

Elsa wasn’t sure, but she suspected that the first to shout was also the first to kneel. This, too, spread throughout the camp, hundreds, then thousands of men, kneeling in silence, one hand over their heart, the silence taking over the camp as men knelt in reverence and devotion to the four people standing atop a stone pedestal.

“You know, ordinarily I’m not much for the whole ‘kneel to royalty’ thing,” Anna whispered to Elsa, entwining their hands together. “But I think, this time… I’m okay with it.”

“I agree,” Elsa said, smiling. “Alright, Kristoff, let us down.”

The pillar of stone sunk back into the earth from which it had sprung, lowering them to the ground. Elsa could see the men gradually begin moving about, some still headed their way, most returning to whatever they had been doing, but she could see a marked difference in the tone and cadence of the camp. 

“Well,” Alan said, when they had gotten back to ground level. “That was… something.”

“Too much?” Elsa asked, wincing. She’d thought it a good idea at first, but now was worried that it would have come across as the four of them doing nothing but preening for the admiration of the crowd.

Alan shook his head, looking very serious. “If anything is going to motivate these guys, that was it. You’ve got every element of nature on your side, and now they all know it.”

Elsa checked how visible they were to the camp, then looked at Heins. “I felt this would be inappropriate to do while we were still on the pedestal.”

“Uh… what wo-”

His voice cut out mid-word as Elsa charged, crashing into Heins and trapping him in the tightest hug she could muster. He staggered backwards, lost his footing, and crumpled to the ground, Elsa not letting go in the slightest. “I’m so proud of you!” she squealed. It was a very Anna-like squeal, but Elsa felt Anna-level happy right now- so dammit, she was gonna squeal like a little girl and everyone was just going to have to deal with it. “That was amazing!”

Heins laughed and hugged her back, then Elsa felt the air explode out of her lungs as an excitable red-head jumped on her, knocking her halfway off of Heins in her forceful introduction to the hug. “Who invited you…” Elsa groaned, but smiling despite herself. 

“Hey, I like hugs too!” 

Some pear-shaped, square-shaped weird feet came into Elsa’s view. “Kristoff, don’t you dare,” Heins warned.

“Don’t worry about it,” Kristoff sighed. He bent down and put his hands under Anna’s shoulders, then picked her straight up- “Hey!”- and set her back down. “I’m impressed too, Heins, seriously- but we’ve got stuff to do. You had your moment, now let’s go.”

“Spoilsport,” Anna grumbled, as Elsa reluctantly broke away from Heins, standing and offering her hand to him to help him up.

“Hey, I’m supposed to be Titan, right? Keep moving forward? I’m just doing what I’m supposed to.”

Anna stuck her tongue out at Kristoff, then said, “Oh crap, the others!” She turned back down the hill, the way they had arrived, and waved the rest of the Queensguard forward. They had been hanging back so that the four of them would be the first seen by the camp- Leila’s idea. They cantered towards the top of the hill, Ciri separate from the others, but not by much, having gotten at least somewhat used to them on the journey from Ignis’s.

“That was  _ incredible! _ ” Baldur shouted as he approached, a sentiment that was repeated by Leila and Cari, and even Ciri clapped, though she didn’t say anything. Elsa would take it, it was one of the first times she had drawn attention to herself in any way in front of the Queensguard. They dismounted and swarmed the four of them, still talking in awed voices about the display. Elsa smiled graciously, allowing herself to bask in their admiration for a short while (she was only human, after all) before raising her hands and announcing that it was time to see what kind of organization the Loyalists had come up with.

* * *

Very, very little, as it turned out. Eventually, Elsa resorted to having the Queensguard spread this instruction: “Each village is to select one person as their captain. That captain is to select one person as their second. They are both to report to Queen Elsa on the hill by 4 PM with a headcount of their village. If an agreement cannot be reached on your own, the Queen will personally see to it than an agreement is reached.”

That last part seemed to do the trick. It was just threatening enough that it spurred every single village to do as instructed, but vague enough that no one could oppose it, after all, it just said that the Queen would mediate- a clever insinuation courtesy of Anna. At 4 PM, Elsa stood on a small icy podium in the middle of a group of sixty-four people, two from each of the thirty-two villages, towns, and farming communities in Arendelle, each representing a group of somewhere around twenty-five to over two hundred. Ciri waited a fair distance away, sitting under a tree, within sight of Elsa, but avoiding everyone else as best they could manage at the moment. She wasn’t thrilled with the arrangement, but as had become her custom, she was dealing with it, not uttering a word of complaint. 

With Anna’s help, they arranged the captains into seven battalions, each representing approximately five hundred men in various sized companies, while Heins and Kristoff took the Queensguard into the camp, splitting up and taking stock of the fighting fitness of the men. Before long, they each were drilling several hundred men in basic combat exercises. As far as Elsa could tell from here, the Loyalists had little in the way of technical skill, but their ferocity and motivation was enough to convince Elsa they could make an effective army, especially considering the circumstances. 

“Alright, good work so far!” Elsa called from her podium, and sixty-five faces turned to face her. “Now, I’d like each of these battalions to have a commander of their own, a lieutenant, and another man to act as  _ their _ second. You do not know each other, for the most part, nor do I have the pleasure of knowing any of you. Therefore, I propose you draw straws to select both positions. Is that agreed?”

The men shifted around, glancing from side to side to see how the others were reacting. “We will do as you command, Your Majesty,” one said, and a chorus of agreement echoed all around Elsa.

Elsa raised her hands. “Your loyalty is appreciated. I mean that, sincerely. But I am not Hans. And you do not fight for the Empire. And, more importantly, you  _ do not fight for me _ . You fight for  _ Arendelle _ . I represent Arendelle, that is all. Without you, Arendelle cannot exist, and my crown would mean less than nothing. There will indeed be times I issue orders that need to be followed to have the best chance of victory. An army that  _ cannot _ follow orders is no better than a mob. But a leader that ignores the input of those around them is no leader at all. What’s more, to ignore  _ you _ , who have fought so hard to overthrow the Empire, the same as I have, would be folly of the highest order. So I ask again, is it agreed?”

There was silence for a moment as the men exchanged more glances with each other, then one man shouted, “Aye!”, and that broke the dam. A tidal wave of “Aye!” swept over Elsa, and she blinked with the unexpected unanimity of the vote.

“Alright then,” Elsa said. “Battalions, line up. I’ll make the straws. Longest is lieutenant, shortest is second. If anyone wishes to  _ not _ take on this position and the responsibility with it, they may abstain from drawing. Understood?” Another chorus of “Aye” rang out, then the men began shifting around, the captains in each battalion lined up. Elsa conjured the appropriate numbers of icicles for each battalion, one longer, one shorter, and had the captains draw. Not one person chose to abstain. In ten minutes, they had their lieutenants. 

“Okay, captains and their seconds, please wait under that tree for further instructions. Lieutenants and their seconds, please join me over here.” Fifty of the men headed towards the tree Elsa had pointed out, while the fourteen Lieutenants and seconds clustered around Elsa in the shade of another large tree, all but one standing in a civilian’s rough approximation of “At attention”, but Elsa appreciated the spirit behind it. She looked around at each of their faces, trying to read them as best she could. Next to her, Anna was doing the same thing.

“All I can say is it doesn’t look like any of them want to kill you,” Anna muttered in Elsa’s ear. “And they were chosen by their village. Even if some people in each village were loyal to the Empire, they’d have been outvoted for sure. Go for it.”

“First, introductions. Lieutenants, please tell me your names, starting with you,” Elsa said, pointing at the man on the furthest right, and moving down the line. Elsa did her best to commit them to memory, Lieutenants Falk, Lorenson, Skjall, Gustav, Duure, Telkor, and Nhalan, running down the line three times, repeating the names to herself. “Thank you. Now… What I am about to tell you does not leave this group. You are not to tell your captains, you are not to tell your men. If I discover that one of you has shared this information with anyone… you will be executed for treason. The reason for this penalty will become clear upon receiving the information. If any of you do not wish to take on this burden, you may leave now. I will choose a replacement from your battalions, and no disciplinary action of  _ any kind  _ will take place. Do I make myself clear?”

Elsa had been nervous to take such a hard stance. She knew the importance of keeping the plan secret, and the equal importance that the higher-ups need to know of it. They had to know what was at stake, so they did not fall back too soon, but threatening what were essentially volunteers with death felt wrong, all the way to Elsa’s core. Just another thing she’d have to live with. However, though she expected one or two to bow out, and some hesitation on at least a few of their faces, all that happened was that the men around her stood straighter, their faces set.

“Thank you,” Elsa said. “I will do my best to prove myself worthy of your loyalty. Anna, as we discussed.”

“Right,” Anna said, and set off towards the other captains to dismiss them and give further instructions.

“So,” Elsa said, putting her hands together. “As you may or may not know at this point, the magic I possess comes from an elemental Spirit, an immensely powerful, immortal being, the manifestation of a force of nature. It gives me my power, yet I do not command even a quarter of the Spirit’s true potential. My husband, sister, and her husband also possess one of these Spirits, Air, Fire, and Earth, respectively.” An excited murmur rippled through the fourteen men. “It turns out that Hans is attempting to use a magical artifact, buried beneath Arendelle castle, to become a Spirit himself.” The startled, frightened looks on the faces of the Lieutenants told Elsa they understood the implications of that statement. “We have a plan to stop this.”

When Elsa finished explaining, one of the men- Lorenson, the only one properly standing at attention- cleared his throat. “Your Majesty, with all due respect… Are you capable of such a feat? To fight the False King on your own? The plan is solid, but it still assumes you can survive that long.”

“Lieutenant Lorenson, I will be completely honest with you. I don’t know. There are many factors that I cannot control. However,” she continued, as she could see him about to respond, “I would not be doing this if I did not believe it would work. That is the best I can offer.”

“Understood, Your Majesty,” he said. His voice was smooth and courteous, and exceptionally professional. Elsa would have to remember him, he could be a fantastic ally. “I have only Arendelle’s best interest at heart. I meant no offense.”

“There was none taken, Lieutenant. It is a valid question. It’s clear to me that I have your loyalty, and for that, I am truly grateful. What I ask for now is worth far more to me than your loyalty, and is far harder for you to give. I ask that you believe in me.”

“I do, Your Majesty,” Lorenson said, bowing. “As I did before, I do now.”

“Very well. If there are no questions, you are dismissed. Report back here at dawn tomorrow morning. Except you, Lorenson. I’d like to speak more with you.” Lorenson frowned the slightest amount for a fraction of a second, but otherwise betrayed no reaction. With curious glances back at him, the others ambled off, making their way back to the camp. Elsa studied Lorenson. He appeared to be in his mid-30’s, in excellent shape, clean shaven, with short, neat brown hair. “You served before the Fall.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I was at the Battle of Corona, and at the Battle of Arendelle.” He was still standing at attention.

“At ease, Lieutenant. Oh-” Elsa gasped, putting a hand to her mouth. “Have I given you an accidental demotion?”

Lorenson relaxed, grinning. “No, Your Majesty. I was only a Corporal then. In fact, this is quite the promotion.”

“Good to hear,” Elsa said, smiling back, then her face fell, and despite her best attempts not to, she bit her lip. “May I ask a personal question?”

With only the slightest hint of surprise, he said, “Of course, Your Majesty.”

“You fought for me, you watched friends die for me, you bled for me, you killed for me, as I led Arendelle to its doom two years ago. Why do you believe in me now?”

Lorenson began to speak, hesitated, began again, hesitated again. “Permission to speak freely, Your Majesty?” he asked with the utmost courtesy.

“Granted.”

“If you think you led Arendelle to its doom, you are a fool.”

Elsa burst into giggles, covering her mouth with her hand. “You took that permission quite liberally, Lieutenant,” she said, still laughing.

“And would again, Your Majesty,” he said with a small bow. “The Empire swept over the Southern Isles, Weselton, and Corona in a matter of weeks. Arendelle responded at the first opportunity to help its ally, only to be betrayed twice- first by tactical incompetence, second by intentional subterfuge. You retreated back to Arendelle, saving as many as you could along the way. You mounted the best defense you could. But more than any of that- you fought. You yourself were near or on the front line in every engagement. And, though you could not be expected to know this… you saved my life.”

“I did?”

Lorenson nodded, smiling. “It was at the Battle of Corona. I’m sure you remember the magician you dueled there?”

“Yes…”

“Do you remember blocking a blow, shortly before said duel?”

Elsa frowned, straining to remember. The man had been killing men left and right, and when Elsa arrived at the scene…yes! That was how the magician noticed her, when she used her powers to stop his strike before it could hit- “That was you?” Elsa gasped.

“It was, Your Majesty. And not only did you save my life, you fought that magician, alone, isolating yourself from all of us… to protect your people. To make sure he could not kill any more of us without going through  _ you _ first. Those are not the actions of a Queen with anything to apologize for. Even now, you put yourself in danger for us. You do not mindlessly send us to die in your name. You respect your subjects. That is why I believe in you. That is why I fight for you. I’ve been a Loyalist since before that was our name.”

“You have quite the silver tongue, Lorenson,” Elsa said, feeling tears in her eyes but staunchly refusing to let them fall. “When this is all over, you and I will need to speak again.”

“It would be my honor, Your Majesty.”

“The honor would be mine. Thank you. Dismissed.” With another smooth bow, Lorenson departed.

Elsa sighed. “Anna, you can come out now.” A freckled face popped out from behind the tree, looking sheepish.

“You knew I was there?”

“Call it a hunch,” Elsa said dryly, as Anna came out from behind the tree. “You weren’t supposed to hear all that.”

“Yeah, well, he’s right, you know.”

“I know,” Elsa said. 

“Come on Elsa, you’ve got to- wait,  _ what? _ ” Anna gasped, staring at Elsa with wide eyes.

Elsa giggled. “Expected a different answer, I see.”

“Honestly? Yeah.”

“Given our history, I can see how that might be the case,” Elsa said, smiling. “It only took thirty damn years, but… I actually believe in myself for once.” Anna pulled Elsa into a tight hug.

“You really have changed. I’m so proud of you, sis.”

Elsa hugged her back. “Thank you.” They broke apart, and Elsa examined the sun. Half hour to sunset. “I’m going to go check on Ciri. What are you gonna do?”

“I’m gonna go find the others, bring ‘em back here.”

“Take Silva. Don’t let your guard down, you hear me? We have no idea who these Loyalists are. Any one of them could be Empire. I don’t want you doing the Anna thing, where you talk to everyone, you understand me?”

“I have no intentions on getting stabbed in the back, Elsa,” Anna grumbled. “I’m not an idiot.”

“No, you’re not. Maybe you’re right, you’ve  _ never _ trusted someone too quickly, and  _ definitely _ nothing bad has ever come from said quick trust.”

“Okay, okay, point taken,” Anna sighed. “I won’t stop and talk to anyone. God, I hate this.”

“I know, Anna. Two more days. Two more days and it’ll all be over.”

“Yeah… see you in a bit.” Anna leaned forward and kissed Elsa’s cheek. “I really am proud of you, you know. Love you, sis.”

“Love you too. See you in a bit.”

Elsa headed towards Ciri, while Anna turned towards the camp. She stopped at the horses and grabbed Silva, strapping it to her waist, and Elsa smiled. She hated Anna not being able to be Anna, but she was glad her sister recognized the risks. As Elsa neared Ciri, she saw the young woman’s head was drooped to her chest- she was fast asleep. “Ah, shit,” Elsa muttered. She crept up in front of Ciri and knelt down, so that she was at eye level with her. She positioned her hands just over Ciri’s, then, as carefully as she could, took them, hoping against hope Ciri would wake gently.

“Ah! Ah! AH!” Ciri screamed, her head jerking up, her eyes wide and filled to the brim with terror.

“It’s me, it’s me, it’s me!” Elsa cried, dodging her head around to stay in Ciri’s field of vision as she looked back and forth, searching for the monsters of her nightmares that were not there. Gradually, the fear faded, and Ciri’s eyes focused on Elsa’s.

“Elsa?” she whispered.

“It’s me, Ciri. You okay?”

Ciri pulled her hands from Elsa’s grip and put her face in them. She stayed quiet for around ten seconds, then… “FUCK!” she screamed. Elsa jumped at the sudden sound.

“Ciri?”

“I’m sorry, Elsa, I’m sorry,” Ciri sighed, her voice shaking, her face still hidden in her hands. “How long am I going to  _ be _ like this? I’m so tired of being so scared.”

“I know, sweetheart,” Elsa crooned, swinging around next to Ciri and putting her arm around her. Ciri cuddled close to her side, pulling her legs up, huddling into Elsa, her hands now clutching Elsa’s shirt like a blanket. “It’s okay, it’s okay,” Elsa whispered, running her hand down Ciri’s hair.

“So what now?” Ciri asked after a moment.

“We don’t have to talk-”

“I want to. Take my mind off the nightmares.”

“Okay. Well, today went well. We got our battalions set up, seven battalions of around five hundred men each, and a halfway decent command structure, considering the circumstances. We march on Arendelle tomorrow.” Elsa could feel Ciri draw even closer at these words.

“You haven’t forgotten your promise, have you?”

“Of course not, Ciri. I will come back.”

“Good… Hey Elsa?”

“Yes?”

“There’s something I’ve been thinking about.”

“What is it?”

“When you asked me to join your family… what did you mean?”

“Well… exactly what I said. As far as I’m concerned, you already are family, but what I was offering was to make it official. If you agreed, it would be as though… well, it would be as though you were my trueborn daughter- including the title and stations that represents.” Saying it out loud was still a little odd, and Elsa was glad Ciri was not looking at her as she felt heat rise in her cheeks. “It’s a lot of pressure, and not something I want you to decide too quickly. I also don’t want to make you uncomfortable. I can understand that joining another family may feel disrespectful to your mother and father, and that’s the last thing I’d ever want to do.”

Ciri shook her head. “It’s not that.... I never knew mom, and dad… I think they’d just be happy for me. It’s… if it really comes with the titles, does that mean I’d be Queen someday?”

“Indeed it does- which is exactly why I want you to take your time in deciding. While my reign has been… unorthodox, to say the least, being Queen is difficult in the best of times. There would be years of hard work to even get to the point of being capable.”

“No, that’s not the part that…” Ciri broke off, then sighed. It seemed she was having trouble arranging her thoughts.

“Ciri, go ahead, it’s just me,” Elsa prompted. “Speak plain, and tell me what’s on your mind.”

“What about your children?”

“Uhh… huh?”

“When you have kids. What happens to me? I’ve been thinking about that- wouldn’t you want them to become Queen instead of me? It  _ should _ be them, I don’t want to get in the way. I’ve just been worried about that...”

Elsa let out a long sigh. “That’s not something you have to worry about, Ciri.”

“But I do worry,” she insisted, missing the point of Elsa’s statement. “What if I-”

“You misunderstand,” Elsa said quietly, and Ciri twisted her head around to look up at Elsa. “That won’t happen. I… I can’t have children.”

“What?” Ciri gasped.

“Yeah,” Elsa muttered. “I’ve always known. Don’t spread the knowledge around much, for obvious reasons. Not the least of which is that a Queen that is unable to produce an heir puts a very large target on her back.” No sooner had Ciri dropped her gaze and pulled away from Elsa did she realize how unbelievably stupid she was. “Wait, no, hang on,” she said quickly, kicking herself- which was difficult to do with her foot so far in her mouth.

“It’s fine,” Ciri said, but her voice was choked with emotion.

“No, it’s not, I know what you’re thinking, you’re thinking that I only asked you because I can’t get an heir otherwise. That’s  _ not  _ true.”

“I wasn’t thinking that.”

“You’re a bad liar, Ciri.”

She sighed. “Okay, I was. But it’s fine. I understand, you don’t have to-”

“Stop,” Elsa said firmly, and Ciri fell silent. “Ciri… I’m going to be completely honest with you, okay?” Ciri didn’t answer, but Elsa took that as an affirmative. “It’s not like that at all. If all I wanted was an heir, I would have chosen one by now- but I didn’t. I didn’t  _ want _ an heir just to have an heir. I originally thought I would just have to wait until Anna and Kristoff had children, and the throne would eventually pass to them. However…” Elsa hesitated. It didn’t seem her place to say this.

“What? They don’t want children?”

“It’s not that. In fact, I know Anna desperately did, and Kristoff was excited too. But… Anna can’t bear children anymore either, no more than I can.”

“Are you serious?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“It’s the Spirits, isn’t it?”

“I believe so.”

“How do you even know?”

Elsa hesitated. The only parental figure Ciri had died when she was eleven, and it was her father to boot. This conversation had the potential to get very awkward, very quickly. “Umm… well, I don’t know how much you know, about… you know. Having children.”

“I know the basics,” Ciri replied, and to Elsa’s relief, she didn’t sound too uncomfortable. “My dad was a bit… hmm… out of his depth, but Mrs. Salverson was there, she was always really nice. I think I know where you’re going with this. You’ve never gotten your period, have you? And Anna’s stopped when she got Ifrit, didn’t it?”

“Uh- yeah, that’s exactly right, actually,” Elsa said, a little impressed that she had put it together that fast, but more saddened to think of how quickly she had been forced to grow up after the Fall, in so many ways both major and minor. “I’m surprised you figured that out so easily.”

“You sounded so certain when you said it, I knew it wasn’t just that you had tried and it hadn’t happened. And when you said Anna couldn’t  _ anymore _ , I know something must have changed to let you know. It’s the only thing that fit.”

“Well reasoned, Ciri. But I promise you, from the bottom of my heart, I love you, so much, and I asked you to become a part of my family for that reason, and that reason only. It is true that it is advantageous to have an heir as Queen- I’m not going to lie to you, ever. But that has nothing to do with my offer. Please believe me.”

Ciri snuggled closer to Elsa. “I do. I’m… really sorry.”

“Sorry for what?”

“That you can’t. And that Anna can’t. It’s not fair.”

“Yeah,” Elsa muttered. “But, to me at least, it’s a small price to pay for the world. This is my lot in life. I’m  _ done  _ regretting that or wishing it was some other way.”

* * *

Later that night, as Elsa, Anna, Heins, Kristoff, and Ciri were readying for bed, the Queensguard was saying their farewells, sharing what Elsa was trying very hard not to think of as the last embraces they would ever share.

“The next time we see each other, the Empire will be gone,” Baldur said as he and Elsa broke apart from their embrace, grinning and winking at her. 

“You bet,” Elsa said back, trying to keep tears from welling up in her eyes. 

“We got this, guys,” Alan said confidently, pounding on Kristoff’s back a few times before breaking apart. “You guys do your thing, and we’ll do ours.”

“You guys better,” Anna said, only the slightest hint of a tremble in her voice, squeezing Cari to what looked like the point of possible suffocation. “Don’t let us show you up.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Leila laughed, hugging Heins. “We’ll see you tomorrow night, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Elsa said, wiping a tear from her eye, trying to pass it off as an itch.

“Good luck, you four,” Alan said, then his jaw clenched, and he straightened up. “If something goes wrong… don’t blame yourselves. The price of freedom is steep, but all of us are willing to pay it. However tomorrow goes… It’s been an honor. The greatest honor of my life.”

“And mine.”

“And mine.”

“And mine.”

“Queensguard…” Elsa said quietly. “Trust me. The honor was all on this side. Thank you.”

The four remaining Queensguard, who had helped rescue Elsa from the Dreamwalker’s clutches, who had fought for her for years, who had laid down their lives willingly in her defense, saluted her, one last time, as one. And Elsa couldn’t stop a tear from rolling down her cheek. Then they turned, and vanished into the darkness.

“They’re gonna be fine,” Elsa muttered to Anna.

“Yeah. Of course they are,” Anna said back. Neither of them believed it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few minor notes: first, I really struggled with leaving the little magic show in. I liked it at first, and then I didn't, and now I'm sort of ambivalent about it. I wanted to have some demonstration of their powers to the crowd, letting them know there's actually a chance here, but... I don't know. I hope you liked it. Second, it's revealed in this chapter that both Elsa and Anna are sterile now, due to the Spirits, and though it's not really mentioned because it's redundant (I'm not doing anything with concubines, so if their wives can't get babby, that's pretty much the end of it), so are Heins and Kristoff. One of the things I find interesting about the Chosen One trope is when being the Chosen One really, really sucks. It's not a benefit, it's a burden, in more ways than one. The thing that makes it interesting is how the characters deal with it, and Elsa's proclamation to Ciri is the crux of that. This is what Elsa is. No more hiding, no more excuses, no more wishing. She is who and what she is, that's it, and she will do what's right. I understand that this may disappoint some of you who were hoping for Babies Ever After, but Elsa does have Ciri, and there's more than one way to make a family.


	102. Return of the Queen: Anna - Challenge

Anna slept very little the night before the end. She couldn’t stop reliving the moment the Queensguard was informed of their plan. Elsa had offered to tell the Queensguard it had been her idea, but Anna staunchly refused. She refused to let their blood be on Elsa’s hands. The Queensguard had been adamant that they agreed to the plan, that they were willing to take the chance, that they had sworn to serve Arendelle with their lives if necessary. It hadn’t really helped. Anna knew that it wasn’t a sure thing of course. There was a chance that everything would go smoothly, and the Queensguard would be fine. But at the same time, she felt that she didn’t deserve that comfort. She had sent them to their deaths. Running away from that would be cowardly. The only reason she got any sleep at all was because Kristoff was there, holding her, grounding her, there to brush away her tears when she woke sobbing.

Dawn came all too soon. Anna sat, holding her head in her hands, watching the side of the tent brighten, bit by bit, as the sun peeked over the horizon.

“Anna.”

Anna sniffed and wiped her eyes quickly. “Yeah?”

Kristoff sat up and put his arm around her. “Look at me.” Anna didn’t. He gently put his hand on her cheek and turned her to face him.

“What?” Anna muttered.

“Grieve later. We have a job to do.”

Anna snorted. “You can be a real asshole sometimes.”

“I know.”

“But you’re right.” Anna took a deep breath. The Queensguard was on vacation. And Anna had a job to do. She looked over to the corner of the tent, where Anna could see gleaming white and silver. “Been a long time since we wore those. Think they still fit?”

“Only one way to find out. Come on.” 

Memories flooded her mind as she pulled on her white hauberk. Her first armor had been much lighter than this, sleeveless, back when she fought with merely a dagger, before she learned to fight like a proper knight with a sword and shield. She had been so much younger then, only twenty-three, painfully naive, charging off to rescue her sister like in some fairy tale adventure. It was a miracle she survived that trip.

She pulled her boots on and began strapping her greaves to her legs. She’d been wearing this armor at the Battle of Corona, when Rapunzel’s grave tactical misstep cost thousands of Arendellian lives, including the sixteen year old Caleb’s. She had given him her blue hair ribbon as a memento, telling him to return it to her later, as a way to motivate him for the battle. He’d been slaughtered anyway.

She slipped her cuirass and attached half-cape over her head. She’d been wearing this armor during the last, desperate battle for Arendelle. How had she ever thought they had a chance? How had she ever expected Elsa to figure a way out of that? How had she ever put that on her sister? It was so unfair. She’d thought she’d outgrown her naivete by then. As it turned out, she wasn’t even close. 

She fastened her bracers on her forearms. She’d been wearing this armor when they fled Arendelle in the night, feeling the heat of the flames on her back as she ran away from all those who had died for her.

She put her emerald studded silver crown on. She was wearing this armor now, when they retook Arendelle and destroyed the Empire.

She looked over at Kristoff, who had just put his own, sapphire studded crown on. “Let’s go.”

The two of them exited the tent. Elsa, Heins, and Ciri stood nearby. Elsa and Heins both wore their royal armor, while Ciri wore light leather armor, which was a little too big for her, and a dagger. She was not going into combat, and would in fact be miles from the city, but Elsa had insisted she wear at least some protection. Looking beyond them, she could see the Loyalist camp in full swing. Men were moving about everywhere, the few lucky enough to have armor donning it, arming themselves, readying for a battle that Anna hoped and prayed would not come. She could see the Lieutenants from yesterday climbing the hill towards them, and went to join her sister.

“Hey sis,” Elsa said as she approached. Elsa ran her eyes up and down Anna, then shook her head. “Been a while since we wore this stuff, huh?”

“No kidding. Hey Ciri, how are you doing today?”

“I’m fine,” Ciri said softly. “Don’t worry about me, I’m worried about you.”

Anna smiled and winked at Ciri, acting more confident than she felt. “We’ll be fine, don’t you worry.”

“Yes we will be,” Elsa agreed. “You just take care of yourself. You’re going to be on your own most of today, but I’ll come get you tonight, okay?”

“Okay.” Ciri looked over at the Lieutenants, who were assembling around a dozen yards away, then back at them. “I… really love you all.” She walked forward and embraced Elsa, squeezing her tight, and Anna heard her whisper something in Elsa’s ear. 

“I promise, Ciri,” Elsa said, stepping back from the hug after a moment, then Ciri hugged Heins. This wasn’t really a surprise, she had warmed up to him faster than anyone but Elsa. What was surprising was when she moved towards Kristoff and hugged him too. Kristoff looked startled for a moment while Elsa beamed, then returned Ciri’s embrace. She whispered something to him too, but Anna couldn’t tell what, only that Kristoff smiled and nodded. Anna had to resist the urge to snatch Ciri and yank her into a hug once she broke apart from Kristoff, but figured to err on the side of not causing a panic attack and waited patiently. 

When Ciri moved towards Anna and hugged her, it felt like Anna let out a breath she’d been holding for weeks. For so long she had watched Ciri suffer from a distance, helpless to do anything to aid her, and especially for someone that liked warm hugs as much as Anna, not being able to hug Ciri had been a hair shy of torture.

“Thank you…  _ so much _ … for everything,” Ciri whispered, hugging her tighter. “Please come back… okay?”

“I will, Ciri. Everything will be okay.” Anna kissed Ciri’s cheek, and broke away. “Take care of yourself. I’ll see you tonight, okay?”

“I will. See you tonight. Good luck.” With that, Ciri threw her bag over her shoulder and set off into the woods without a backwards glance. Rather than trust her safety to someone they couldn’t vet, or worry about her panicking around new people, they had opted to have Ciri camp out on her own in the woods for the day. According to Elsa, she was back to full capability when she was alone, and if the experience in the Southern Isles had taught them anything, it was that Ciri could survive just fine on her own, at least for a little while. She had plenty of food and water, a tent for shelter, a weapon, and some other basic supplies- more than enough to make do if the worst should happen.

“She’ll be fine,” Anna said, and this time, she really meant it.

“I know,” Elsa sighed. “Let’s go talk to the Lieutenants. Anna, you should get going.”

“Right,” Anna said, hugging Elsa, then Heins, and finally Kristoff, giving a long kiss to that last one. “See you guys soon.” Anna mounted her horse and took off for Arendelle, her hair and cape streaming out behind her.

* * *

_ There it is, _ Anna thought. It was the first time since nearly destroying the city that Anna laid eyes on her home. She could see that the damage she and Hans had wrought had not yet been fully repaired. Several buildings were still half-demolished, and she could see construction still taking place on quite a few of the streets she had blown up. She galloped for the walls as fast as she could urge her steed to go, and she could see the guards scrambling to slam the gates and bar the entryway. She yanked the reins, pulling her horse to a stop fifty yards from the city gates. She stayed alert, scanning for any hint of a bow drawn in her direction, keeping magic close to the surface of her mind to protect herself.

“I am Princess Anna of Arendelle!” she shouted towards the city, and she could see several of the Empire soldiers there stop and look at her, listening. “I come in peace with a message for King Hans!” Nothing happened for a moment, and then the gates swung open. A lone horseman trotted out. He was dressed in more elaborate armor than most other Empire.  _ Must be an officer. _ Anna kept the magic close to her fingers, just in case, but she wore an impassive expression as she waited for the officer to ride up to her, stopping five yards away. Anna examined him. To her surprise, she found an air of likeability about the man, who appeared to be in his mid-thirties. There was something about the casual way he rested in the saddle, the easygoing glint in his eye, the informal sweep of his hair, the good-natured expression of polite interest he wore on his handsome face. Still, Anna knew better than to trust first appearances. She’d learned that lesson the hard way.

“Good morning, My Lady,” he said with a courteous nod. Anna noted the switch from her proper title, but found it odd that he would bother to address her with any title at all.

“I have a message for the King. Who might I be addressing?”

“I am General Hjall. I am the commander of the Empire’s forces in Arendelle. Pleasure to meet you, My Lady. You may not believe this, but it is very nice to see you alive and well.”

“It is?” Anna asked, before she could stop herself. It was such an unexpected thing for a General within the Empire to say.

“It is,” Hjall said, running a hand through his hair as though they were doing no more than exchanging words on a picnic. “I grew up under your sister’s rule. I’ve heard she’s alive as well?”

“She is.”

“That’s wonderful to hear.”

“Are you mocking me, General?” Anna asked, allowing an edge to creep into her voice.

As though determined to buck every one of Anna’s expectations, Hjall burst into laughter. “Not at all, My Lady,” he chuckled after a moment.

“Forgive my confusion,” Anna said, trying hard to maintain her composure. “I simply find it odd that a man who claims to be pleased that I and my sister are alive would be serving the man who slaughtered our people, destroyed our Kingdom, and have been trying to kill both of us for two years.”

“I can understand that,” Hjall said. “It is odd. I have told the King personally that I would have preferred the Empire not rise.”

“Then why do you fight for them?” Anna asked, incredulous.

“Because the Empire  _ did _ rise. I lost four brothers when it did. I will do anything to avoid further war. Even if that means serving the Empire.”

“So you’re fine with what the Empire has done to people?” Anna challenged.

“King Hans isn’t really as bad as people make him out to be,” Hjall said, shrugging.

Anna’s patience ran out. “Tell the King that Queen Elsa issues him a challenge. A one on one fight to the death. If he declines, we will lay siege to the city and  _ starve _ you out.”

Hjall laughed. “You don’t have the manpower for such a siege.”

Anna narrowed her eyes. “Who said anything about manpower? The very elements of nature are on our side.” She snapped her fingers, and a flame flickered there, then snapped again and it winked out. Hjall blinked in surprise, then looked back at her. “Try to ship food in? Good luck on a frozen fjord. Go by road? Going to be tough when the road keeps collapsing. Hell, you even try to do something by  _ air  _ somehow, and we can knock it out of the sky.”

“You wouldn’t starve an entire city of your own people. I know you, and your sister. You’d never have the stomach for it.”

“I would personally kill  _ every single _ man, woman, and child in Arendelle with my bare hands to stop Hans from succeeding.”

Hjall narrowed his eyes. “You lie.”

“If that’s what you believe, then so be it.”

“Are you really so vain that you’d slaughter your own people, just to get a crown?”

“I did not say that. This is far, far bigger than some crowns and who wears them. I said to stop Hans from succeeding.”

“Succeeding in what?”

“Ending the world.”

Hjall stared at her. “You lie,” he said again. Anna couldn’t be sure if it was wishful thinking on her part, but he sounded less sure this time.

“Whether you believe me or not is irrelevant. My actions will speak for me soon enough. One city, and my soul, are a small price to pay to stop what Hans will do. If you believe he has anything but malevolent intent, then you are a fool. My sister and her army will be here at noon. The arena will be one mile away from the city. You won’t miss it. Both armies will maintain a minimum of one half mile from the arena. Hans may select any three people to accompany him to the arena, though they shall not interfere in the duel. Is that understood, General Hjall?” He nodded, and again, Anna couldn’t be sure if he actually looked troubled, or if she just hoped he did. “Good. I expect to see the King at noon.”

Anna turned her horse around and galloped back towards Elsa and the approaching army.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, Kristoff is a bit of an asshole. But think about what his Spirit is, what his role is, and what is at stake. Anna herself says (and 100% means) that she would slaughter Arendelle to the last soul to stop Hans. There's no time for grief, not yet. Kristoff knows it, Anna knows it, and Kristoff reminds her of that.
> 
> And here we are, friends. On Thursday, we arrive at the final battle. I hope to see you there.


	103. Return of the Queen: Elsa - The Final Battle Begins

“Here she comes!” Kristoff shouted from the top of the hill up ahead. Elsa rode at the head of her ragtag army, alongside Heins, and at Kristoff’s words, she urged her steed forward, galloping up to Kristoff and skidding to a stop alongside him, followed closely by her husband.

“She’s riding like the devil’s behind her,” Elsa muttered, seeing Anna bent low over her mount, her hair streaming out behind her, tearing down the path towards them. “That can’t be good.” 

“Nah, that’s just Anna,” Kristoff said. “She doesn’t know how to pace herself.”

“That’s our Anna,” Elsa sighed. She looked at Heins. “How far until the spot?”

“Another two miles.”

“Hmm.” Elsa turned around to check the army’s progress. They had traveled light- there was no point in packing up the tents and the other equipment. “Another hour then, at most?”

“About,” Kristoff said, still watching Anna speed towards them. Anna arrived a minute later, her face a shade darker red than her hair, which was drenched in sweat.

“Is everything okay?” Elsa asked, as Anna slumped over her horse’s mane, panting.

“Yeah-  _ gasp- _ why?”

Kristoff winked at Elsa, who giggled. “No reason. How did it go? Were you able to deliver the message?”

“Yeah-  _ gasp- _ I-  _ gasp- _ talked to- _ gasp- _ ”

“Okay, feisty pants, catch your breath first,” Kristoff said, nudging his horse forward again, the other three matching pace, as the army trailed behind.

“Okay,” Anna said, once she had caught her breath around a minute later. “I was able to deliver the message.” Then she summarized her conversation with General Hjall.

“So he had no idea you had magic?” Kristoff asked.

“He didn’t seem to,” Anna replied. “He seemed really surprised when I demonstrated, and didn’t seem to believe we had the capability- or fortitude, for that matter, of putting the city under siege.”

“Interesting,” Elsa said, chewing her lip. “If the soldiers don’t know we have all four Spirits, that could be a pretty big blow to their morale.”

“Does this change anything?” Heins asked.

“I don’t think so,” Kristoff said. “It’s definitely an advantage, but I think we stick to the plan as is.”

“Agreed,” Elsa said. “Speaking of, do you think Hans will agree to the duel?”

“I don’t know,” Anna admitted. “There’s no way to know for sure. But I  _ think _ so. And the reason why is because Hjall didn’t seem to think Hans was all that bad.” The other three snorted derisively. “I know, right? Anyway, if he’s working on his image, he may agree just to keep that going. And his ego’s the size of the North Mountain. He’s going to assume he’ll win. But I wouldn’t expect a fair fight.”

“Agreed to that as well,” Elsa said. “I have no illusions about his sense of fair play.”

“Yeah, but you’ve got it,” Anna said, grinning. “If I could fight him, what chance does he have against you?”

“But… he beat you,” Kristoff pointed out.

“Only barely though!” Anna protested, and Elsa laughed, grateful for the levity. Her stomach hadn’t stopped turning all morning. She had confidence in her abilities, but the prospect of taking on Hans on her own was still daunting. She’d been as outclassed as an ant before a giant when last they met, and since then, he’d only grown stronger. She had seen firsthand the destruction his and Anna’s duel had wrought. Then again, she was stronger too.

* * *

“A little ostentatious, don’t you think?” Elsa asked Kristoff.

“Eh, we’re trying to get Hans to agree to this charade. Might as well roll out the red carpet for him.” The arena that Kristoff had constructed was a raised round platform of smooth stone, fifty yards around and about ten feet tall. There was a ring of elaborate pillars around the outside, and small raised platforms on each side for the others to watch the duel from. Right now, the four of them stood on the edge closest to the city, watching and waiting to see if Hans would agree to the duel.

“Hey, look,” Anna said, elbowing Elsa. “They’re actually coming.” Elsa peered towards Arendelle. She could see what seemed like a river of black streaming out of the city gates, headed down the road towards them. 

“Anna, Kristoff, go get ready, we’ll signal if they break the agreement.”

“Got it.” Anna and Kristoff jogged across the arena, hopping down and mounting their horses, watching Elsa, ready to gallop back to their army and bring them forward if the Empire army got too close.

“D’you think they’ll stop?” Heins muttered.

“No, I don’t.”

“Me either.”

Both were proven wrong. The main body of the Empire’s host, which Elsa made a quick estimation as numbering around 6,000, as expected, stopped and spread out along a straight line a half mile from the arena. Meanwhile, four individuals continued forward, each garbed in black. Elsa and Heins turned around and walked to the center of the arena, beckoning for Anna and Kristoff to join them.

“They actually stopped?” Anna asked as she came up to stand next to Elsa.

“Yeah. Four people on their way, the rest of the army stopped about a half mile away. Maybe even a little more, honestly.”

They did not have long to wait. A few minutes later, four people climbed the stairs on the far side of the arena. Elsa recognized two of them at once. Hans himself, and his last remaining brother besides Heins, Hedvik. The other two, Elsa had never seen before. One was a handsome, friendly looking man, and the other made Elsa’s skin crawl. He was a twisted, deformed man, with greasy-looking black hair, a hunchback, warped shoulders, and clawlike hands.

“That’s General Hjall,” Anna muttered under her breath. Elsa needed no clarification on which one was the General. 

“Well, well, what a reunion,” Hans said, coming to a halt five yards from them, his hand resting casually on the hilt of his sword, and Elsa’s anger spiked. The last time she had heard that voice, it was taunting her about the fall of her kingdom, two years ago. She could feel Heins tense next to her as Hans looked at him. “Hey there, kinslayer.”

“What did you call me?” Heins hissed.

“Relax, Heins,” Hans laughed. “Just welcoming you to the club.” Hedvik sniggered at Hans’s taunt, but apart from his initial challenge, Heins seemed unshaken by it. “Ah, where are my manners? We of course know all of you, and I believe you all know my brother, Hedvik? This is General Hjall,” the general inclined his head, “and this is… well, he doesn’t really have a name.”

“Where’s the girl?” the deformed man asked in a feral mutter, his eyes darting around and his claw-like fingers twitching. “She was so delicious… my favorite little plaything, ooh, yesss, the little snakey had such tasty fearsss….” Elsa’s vision went red, and she took a half step towards the man, but Heins grabbed her arm. 

“Oh yes,” Hans said, laughing. “I believe he knows a friend of yours. They spent quite a lot of time together in the Southern Isles. He’s been ever so looking forward to seeing her again.”

“You’ll never get your fucking hands on her again,” Elsa snarled. “And soon,  _ you’ll _ be dead.” Heins’s grip on her arm tightened, and she forced herself to calm down.  _ He’s trying to rattle you. Don’t let him. _

“If you say so,” Hans laughed. He clapped his hands together. “So. What are the terms here?”

“Fight to the death. You versus me. No one interferes. Don’t go beyond the pillars. That’s it. Loser’s army stands down.”

Hans and Hedvik smirked at one another. “Agreed. When do we begin?”

“I will signal,” Anna said.

“Fine by me. Well, let’s do this.”

The two groups split up. Three of each went to wait on the raised platforms, while Elsa and Hans stopped twenty yards apart, facing each other. Elsa gripped her shield, then drew Frost, letting it hang by her side, examining her enemy. Hans drew his blade as well, looking relaxed. He wore no shield, and he only wore light leather armor. He would be faster than Elsa like this, but Elsa preferred it this way. She could always shed her armor if she needed to, but it was a hell of a lot harder to put it on mid-fight than take it off.

“Ready?!” Anna shouted. Anna and Hans both raised their blades into the air, then Elsa settled into a forward leaning crouch, her knees half bent, her body tensed. All sound seemed to drain from Elsa’s ears. The three people visible over Hans’s shoulder faded from view as Elsa’s focus narrowed to contain only the evil man in front of her. She wasn’t sure if she could win this duel. But she would make damn sure that Hans earned it if she didn’t.  _ You’re not trying to win, Elsa _ , she told herself.  _ Just stall. Kill him if you can, but stay alive.  _ A small flame burst on the arena’s floor between her and Hans, and Elsa exploded forward. 

_ “Keep the pressure on him, he’ll try to trap you like in Corona if you give him space.” _

With Anna’s advice ringing through her mind, Elsa shot a line of icicles at Hans through the end of Frost as she sprinted, which he deflected with a slash of his own sword, knocking them aside before they had even reached him, but as long as he was knocking icicles aside, he wasn’t using his powers to trap Elsa, and then she was on him. She began a furious flurry of attacks, always driving forward, but each was deflected, Hans moving faster and stronger than a normal human would be able to.

Frost glittered through the air towards Hans’s head, arcing in from the right, and Hans raised his blade to deflect. As he did, Elsa twisted, putting her weight behind her shield, and lunged forward. The hard wooden surface of the shield slammed into Hans’s face. She felt him stumble away, but when Elsa tried to pull the shield back, she found she could not. Fingers wrapped around the side of it, then Elsa felt her arm wrenched to the right with such tremendous force that Elsa was spun all the way around, exposing her back to Hans. She could feel him moving to strike, and she flourished her blade, twirling Frost around to spin behind her back, and she felt Hans’s sword clatter off of it rather than carving through the gap in her armor at the small of her back. She used the remaining momentum from being spun to fall forward, rolling once and springing back to her feet.

As she turned to face Hans again, he made a fast sidearm throwing motion. There was an enormous, reverberating cracking sound from Elsa’s left as one of the pillars was torn from its foundations and rocketed towards her. She spun on her heel, throwing her arm out in an arc, then dove to the side. The pillar passed within inches of her, then slid around the circular path Elsa had created, heading straight back for Hans. Elsa bounded after it, closing the distance once more as Hans redirected the pillar, sending it tumbling through the air and toppling off the edge of the arena, and then Elsa was there, slashing low and fast. Hans reacted a millisecond too slowly, dodging back just too late to stop Frost from scoring a hit on Hans’s thigh. It was a shallow cut, but Elsa had scored the first hit. She had only a second to relish in her victory. The ferocity of Hans’s counterattack was staggering, and Elsa quickly found her defenses overwhelmed. His sword moved with blinding speed, and Elsa simply could not keep up. Hans scored shallow cuts on Elsa’s right shoulder, left knee, and right calf in rapid succession. Her armor, with its icy reinforcement, prevented the wounds from being debilitating, but they were painful enough to be a handicap.

_ “He’s fast. Too fast. You need to be faster. Ditch the shield if you need to.” _

Elsa thrust herself backwards, hard, jumping back as far as she could, creating as much distance between them as possible. She planted her right foot, spinning to her right, letting her left arm extend. She spun all the way around, then straightened her arm and let the shield slip off, throwing it sidearm at Hans. It spun through the air flat, catching Hans in the chest as he jumped forward to press his advantage. It knocked him off balance, and Elsa leapt forward, now gripping her sword with both hands, and she swung with all her might at Hans’s blade. She struck the base of his blade with the middle of hers, knocking it aside, and then she twisted it back around, stabbing towards Hans’s gut. He swept his sword back in front of him with alarming quickness, knocking Frost to the side, though the tip of Elsa’s blade still scored along the side of Hans’s stomach, ripping through his leather armor and sending a thin spray of blood over the floor.

Hans used the momentum of his parry to attack again, slashing down towards Elsa’s neck, and she was too off-balance to bring Frost back in time. Instead, now shieldless, she raised her left hand and shot a blast of magic at Hans’s sword. The flurry of ice struck the blade near the tip, twisting in Hans’s grip just enough to cut across Elsa’s shoulder, glancing off her pauldron, instead of cleaving her neck in two. Elsa regained her footing and continued attacking, using Frost in her right hand, and sending blasts of ice at Hans’s blade and legs, forcing him onto the defensive, but her arm was flagging. Spikes of pain kept shooting through it, courtesy of the gash on her shoulder, and she couldn’t get around Hans’s defense.

_ “Pure offense may not cut it. If needed, fall back, wait for an opening.” _

Elsa lessened her offensive, feigning exhaustion. It wasn’t hard to feign, but she was in a lot better shape than how she was now fighting. She could feel the momentum shift slightly, then, all at once, Hans launched into a flurry of strikes. Elsa stumbled backwards, moving Frost as quickly as she could to block his blows- high, left, high, low, high, right, high, low- he was falling into a pattern.

At once, she knew it was a ruse- very soon, he would break the pattern to trick her. Elsa broke it first. Still in his pattern, he was expecting her to block with Frost, so he aimed for Frost- so Elsa moved Frost. The next time he went low, rather than lower her sword, she raised it. Hans, aiming for her blade, was not far enough forward to hit her leg, and lacking the expected resistance, he over-rotated and lost his footing.  _ Gotcha _ .

Elsa seized the opportunity and stabbed forward. Frost, expertly restored by Horst’s skillful hands, punctured Hans’s armor with little more than a thought. Elsa’s sword entered Hans’s abdomen at the bottom of the ribcage, surely perforating his liver. Elsa felt only the briefest of tugs as the blade pierced through the back of his armor, sinking up to the crossguard in Hans’s stomach. With a savage sense of satisfaction, Elsa twisted the blade sideways, then wrenched it to the left out of Hans’s body, tearing through his side, completely separating the right side of his stomach into two halves. Blood splattered across the rocky floor in an arc as Elsa came to a stop, her arm outstretched, breathing hard.

Hans fell to his knees. His sword slipped from his fingers, clanging off the stone, the sound coming as though ringing from far away. As Elsa raised Frost, preparing to finish him off, Hans chuckled, blood bubbling at the corner of his mouth. “You don’t stand a chance against my armies,” Hans grunted, holding his hands over the wound and looking up at Elsa. “Why do you think I agreed to fight you?”

Elsa scowled. “I guess it doesn’t matter now, does it?” She seized the top of Hans’s shirt and thrust Frost into his heart. The shining blade seemed to gleam in delight as it bathed in Hans’s blood. Elsa stared into her enemy’s eyes as they dimmed, losing focus, and then Hans toppled backwards, sliding off of Elsa’s sword, landing on his back with a dull thud, his eyes still open, then he moved no more. 

Elsa looked back at her family, who stood there, looking stunned and ecstatic at the outcome of the fight, as they leapt down from the platform and started moving towards her. She glanced the other way, at where Hans’s people still stood. The deformed man seemed to not even realize what was happening, Hjall seemed stunned, and Hedvik… was smiling.  _ What…? Why is he… Oh no. _ Dread flooded Elsa’s veins. At once, she knew why Hans had agreed to fight.

“GET BACK!” she screamed, waving an arm at her family and sprinting away from Hans, her family’s expressions of jubilation turning to surprise and alarm as they stumbled to a stop. “HE’S ALREADY A-”

There was a flash of blue light, and a noise like a thunderclap. A tremendous force hit Elsa’s back, and she was blasted off her feet as her vision blurred. She crashed into the stone floor, hard, and Frost fell from her hands with the force of the impact. She tumbled and slid across the floor, her head spinning. Everything hurt as she tried to catch her breath, but as she struggled to her feet, it seemed like everything was still functional.

“Elsa! Are you okay?” Anna was there, steadying Elsa, but not looking at her, she was looking at Hans, who had risen to his feet. Kristoff and Heins stood alongside them, each of them standing in defensive positions.

Hans bent down and picked up his sword. “Valiant effort,” he called, striding forward, all evidence of the wounds Elsa had given him completely gone. “But useless. I agreed to fight because I’ve already won.” He raised his arms, gloating, triumphant. “I am the Fifth Spirit! And I cannot be killed. But you guessed that already, didn’t you?” he said, a mocking grin on his face. “This is all just a distraction, right? You sent someone to get the Source, yeah? I’m afraid they’re going to have a very bad day.”

“No,” Elsa moaned.

“It can’t be,” whimpered Anna.

“No way,” Heins muttered.

“Can it, all of you,” Kristoff ordered. “Focus. Stick with the plan. Trust in the Queensguard.”

“Hedvik!” Hans roared behind him. “Start the attack!” Hedvik, laughing, retreated off the platform, Hjall and the deformed man following him, and then Elsa heard a roar from the Empire’s army as they began to charge.

“YOU BASTARD!” Anna burst into a sprint, heading for Hans.

“Anna, no!” Elsa screamed, but it was too late. Hans raised his arm. A bluish bolt of crackling light leapt towards Anna from his outstretched hand. It arced through the air, and Anna raised her hand, answering the magic with her own, but it was too late. The beginnings of Ifrit’s fire twisted and faded as the bolt smashed through it, striking Anna in the chest. Her hair stood up on end, and she was thrown backwards as though struck with a battering ram. She landed on her back at Elsa’s feet, then a stone wall erupted in front of them, shielding them from Hans.

“Anna!” Elsa cried, dropping to her knees.

“Ow…” Anna groaned, opening her eyes. “What the hell was that?”

“I don’t know,” Elsa muttered quickly. “Can you stand?”

“Yeah,” Anna said, and Elsa helped heave her to her feet.

“Send the signal, now,” Kristoff ordered, and Anna threw an enormous blast of fire into the air. Within seconds, there was a titanic rumbling from the assembled Loyalists, as the Lieutenants led their own charge. “We take him down, right here. Right fucking now. Together.”

“How?” Elsa gasped.

“We’ll  _ rip him into fucking pieces _ ,” Kristoff snarled.

“I’ll get your weapon, Elsa,” Heins said, and he launched himself into the air. More blue bursts of energy erupted from the other side of the stone wall, chasing him, but he dodged them, changing speed and direction with a grace that shocked Elsa, despite how competent she already knew him to be in the air. He dove for the ground, then rocketed over their heads, still weaving and dodging the blasts. He dropped Frost, and Elsa snatched it.

“Leave the shields,” Elsa snapped. “They won’t help, and they’ll just slow us down. Let’s go.”


	104. Return of the Queen: Alan - Sixteen Hours Ago

“You sure this is the right house?” Cari muttered. The four Queensguard were huddled in an alleyway in the slums of Arendelle. It was little more than a shanty town that sprang into being when the Empire rose, and forced hundreds of Arendellians out of their homes for Hans’s puppets. Getting into the city had been a breeze, using a tunnel Ciri told them about, and even finding Martha had gone well. Kristoff’s spies within the city had pointed them to this house, the smallest shack in the poorest area of the city.

“That’s what the guy said,” Baldur whispered back. “Might as well try. Go knock on the door, Alan.”

“Keep an eye out,” Alan ordered, raising his hood. He casually stepped out from the alleyway, acting as though he had not a care in the world. Though he wore an Empire guard uniform, he couldn’t be sure that his presence wouldn’t draw attention, so he tried to act as though he were just out for a stroll. He crossed the street to the shack’s worn front door and knocked, hoping he wouldn’t accidentally knock the door off its hinges. 

Alan could hear footsteps on the other side, then a woman’s voice asked, “Yes? Who is it?”

“An old friend, ma’am,” Alan said.

There was a pause, then the voice said, “How old?”

“Around two years.”

Alan heard the rattling of a chain, then the door cracked open, and an eye peered out at him, at first narrowed in suspicion, then widened in surprise. “Alan? Is that you?”

“It’s me, Martha,” Alan said, dropping his voice on the last word, in case she did not go by Martha to her neighbors. The door closed, there was more rattling of a chain, then the door opened fully. Martha poked her head outside, looked left and right, then pulled Alan in, closing the door behind him.

Martha’s home was tiny and bare. The single room was barely furnished, with only a cot, a single chair, and a rickety table with a candle on it. A small fire pit sat in the corner next to a few pans. Martha herself looked similarly desolate. Her clothes were filthy and torn. Her cheeks were gaunt, and it seemed she had been on the verge of starvation for quite a while, but right now, she was beaming.

“It’s great to see you,” Alan said, wrapping her in a hug, shocked at how thin she was, but she laughed and returned the embrace, though they broke apart in seconds. Alan had not forgotten what happened if you touched Martha for too long.

“I thought you died!” Martha said breathlessly.

“Same to you, actually. I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“Well, mostly,” Martha said with a self-deprecating laugh. “I’ve been better.”

“Again, same,” Alan chuckled. “Listen- we need your help. We may be able to end this once and for all, but we need you. We need your power.”

“We?” Martha asked, cocking her head.

“We,” Alan confirmed. “The rest of the Queensguard is outside-” his breath caught. “Some of them, anyway,” he amended regretfully. “The ones who are left.”

“Oh, Alan-”

“It’s fine,” he said, brushing her sympathy aside. There was no time for it. “I’m happy to see you, truly, I am, but we don’t have much time. Listen-” He summarized what it was they were there to do, what Elsa and the others were currently doing, and how it would all be for nothing if he and the others couldn’t get Martha into the castle, down to the Source, and neutralize the Dreamwalker.

“Wow…” Martha sighed, having collapsed into the chair only a minute in to Alan’s explanation. “I don’t… I can’t believe it. I never imagined they were still alive, and to hear they’ve been fighting all this time…”

“Will you help them?”

Martha met his eyes. There was an icy determination there. “Of course. How do we get into the castle?”

“At dawn, Anna will be arriving to challenge Hans to a duel, which will take place at noon. Hans will of course suspect that it’s only a distraction, and he’ll be right, but it won’t be to cover our infiltration, it will be to cover the fact that we’re already there. This is  _ our _ turf. There’s a dozen ways to get into the castle grounds without going through the front gates. They’ll be guarded, obviously, but you leave that to us,” Alan finished, grinning. “We’ve been doing this a while now.”

“When do we leave?”

“As soon as you’re ready. But hang on, before you get too excited here,” he added, as Martha got to her feet. “I can’t promise we can protect you. I can’t promise we’ll succeed. I can’t promise we’ll survive. In fact… I don’t think we will. Knowing that, are you still willing to fight?”

Martha dropped her gaze. “They found Jakob and Shana the first week. When they refused to join Hans, he… he had them stripped and impaled in the town square. Their bodies were displayed for weeks. I only survived because no one else knew I was a magician, and… they died without giving me up. I’ve always been ashamed that I couldn’t do more. They revealed themselves to the Queen because I did, and now they’re dead because of it.” She looked back up at Alan, and the torment and grief in her eyes was palpable. “If I can avenge them, I will, even if it means my death.”

“..... Alright then. Follow me.”


	105. Return of the Queen: Anna - Defeat

“Look out!” Anna shouted, shoving herself and Elsa apart, and a blistering bolt of energy flashed through the air between them. She rolled and sprang to her feet, throwing another fireball at Hans, but it splashed harmlessly around the three men locked in furious combat. Heins and Kristoff were on each side of Hans, both fighting as hard and as fast as they could, but Hans was equal to both, his sword hardly visible as it flashed from Kristoff to Heins, blocking every blow as if there were somehow two Hanses, and he  _ still _ found time to send bursts of blue lightning at the others. The air was filled with the sound of combat, as outside the arena, the battle between the Empire and the Loyalists raged on.

With a speed that made him little more than a black and red blur, Hans dropped, extending his leg, then he spun like a top, sending both Kristoff and Heins’s feet flying out from under them. The next instant, Hans seized Heins’s leg, then used him as though he were a club, spinning him around and smashing him into Kristoff. The sound of their armor colliding was deafening as Hans released his grip, and Heins and Kristoff arced through the air in a tangle of limbs. They hit the ground, Heins landing on top of Kristoff, and they tumbled clear across the arena. They stirred feebly, trying to claw their way to their feet.

“NO!” Elsa screamed, her face contorted with fury, and she and Anna sprinted forward to replace their husbands in the close-quarters combat. If they didn’t keep the pressure on and gave him room to maneuver and work his magic, they’d be killed in seconds. Elsa outstripped Anna, getting in front of her and swinging wildly at Hans’s head, but as Hans raised his sword to deflect, Elsa slammed to a stop and jumped back, allowing Anna to leap out from behind her. Anna went low, slashing at Hans’s unprotected leg, and to her own surprise, she landed the blow. A deep gash sliced across Hans’s thigh, but Anna’s elation was deflated nearly instantly, as fresh skin swept across the gash, leaving his leg smooth and unbroken.  _ Shit! How are we supposed to beat him?  _ She answered herself at once, remembering Kristoff’s words.  _ We’ll rip him to fucking pieces. We’ll see how well he heals when I cut his fucking head off, just like Elsa did his brother. _

Elsa wasn’t discouraged either, having used the momentary distraction to circle around Hans’s back, stabbing out towards it, but Hans spun around and attacked towards her. Elsa was forced onto the defensive, falling back, desperately blocking blow after blow. So fierce was Hans’s aggression that Anna had trouble moving fast enough to keep up without breaking into a run and compromising her guard, but by this point, both Kristoff and Heins had gotten to their feet.

Kristoff charged in, forgoing his weapon entirely in a desperate bid to bodyslam him off Elsa. It worked, after a fashion. Hans broke off his assault on Elsa, but he leapt into the air, backflipping over Kristoff’s tackle and slashing downwards. It was only through the strength and quality of the Queensguard’s armor that Kristoff wasn’t killed, but it still left a gash running all along his back. Hans had no sooner touched down than he was blasted off his feet again, courtesy of Heins hitting him with a burst of wind so strong it pulled Anna off balance, despite the fact that she was ten feet away. A stone pillar burst out of the ground near where Hans was tumbling, then swung downwards, smacking Hans down onto the stone floor of the arena, covering him in debris as the pillar shattered.

Elsa and Anna’s eyes met, and each knew what the other was about to do. Anna tensed her legs and jumped as hard as she could, just as Elsa thrust an ice pillar beneath her feet. She launched into the air higher than she had ever done, concentrating hard on her own magic. Hans had only just begun climbing to his feet in the midst of the rubble when Anna landed inches away, slamming her fist onto the arena’s floor and releasing her magic more than she’d ever dared, using her own momentum to increase the force of the explosion. She felt the stone beneath her knuckles crack with the magnitude of the blast. Hans’s feet left the ground once more, and Anna turned to her sister, lobbing a fireball at her, pouring as much of her strength into it as she dared. Elsa swung Frost with both hands, the blade thickening as a layer of ice raced along its length, connecting with the fireball, compressing it still further as it rocketed towards the airborne Hans, moving far faster than Anna could normally throw them. It struck him in the face, exploding with tremendous force, the light that flared so bright that Anna had to squint to not be blinded as both Elsa and Anna switched to jets of their magic, sending them chasing Hans through the air, but before they connected, he met their assaults with bolts of magic of his own. Anna immediately felt her strength flagging as the magic connected and Hans landed. Hans was orders of magnitude stronger than they were, and Anna could feel his magic overpowering hers. She dropped to one knee, straining with the effort of continuing the outpouring of her magic. She could see the stream of fire getting shorter, the blue bolt getting longer as it creeped ever closer to her, and she knew, she  _ knew _ , that if she allowed it to reach her, she would die.

“I’m with you!” a voice shouted from just behind Anna, then a stream of dirt and rocks collided with Hans’s magic alongside her fire, stopping it in its tracks. Next to them, Heins had joined Elsa, sending a maelstrom to join Elsa’s flurry, and Hans’s magic had stopped its assault. In the next few seconds, though, Anna knew it had been for nought. Slowly, his magic restarted its crawl towards them, despite the assistance. Anna was pouring her soul into her magic, and it wasn’t enough.

“Let the Spirits through!” Elsa screamed. “ _ Let them through!!! _ ” Anna looked over, and saw that, alone among all of them, Elsa was still on her feet. For the first time since that night in the Dreamwalker’s camp so many years ago, Elsa’s eyes had gone white, crackling with energy. Her teeth were bared in a snarl.

Anna closed her eyes. She thought about Alarik, and Liam. She thought about Caleb. She thought about Rapunzel and Eugene. She thought about General Raston and his son. She thought about Ciri. She thought about Silas and Elsie. She thought about Ignis. She thought about Alan and Cari and Baldur and Leila as she surrendered herself to her fury. She could not let them have died in vain. 

Anna’s eyes flew open and she gasped. She felt suddenly hollow, small, no more than a gateway, fully opened at last, allowing all of Ifrit’s rage to pour through her. Heins and Kristoff had both made way for Valefor and Titan, and their eyes had taken on the same ethereal shine that Elsa’s had, and Anna’s surely had. She felt the tide of the magic turn as Hans lost the upper hand, then started to lose ground as the magic of the four Spirits started to overpower him.

Anna took a shaky step forward, unrelenting in her assault, then another, and another. The four of them advanced on Hans, the fury and power of their magic overwhelming him, only two yards away now. Through the violent, twisting explosions of magic, Anna could see sweat beading on Hans’s face.  _ We’ve got him! _

A surge of magic of unfathomable strength. Anna felt Ifrit’s magic brushed aside as though no more than a spiderweb. The blue bolt barreled towards her, and she watched it come, her strength failing her, her magic torn asunder, her body too exhausted to react. In a way, she almost welcomed the coming embrace of death. They had failed.  _ She  _ had failed. But at least now it was over, and she could rest.

A blow like a hammer struck Anna in the chest, and for barely more than an instant, she thought that it felt different than she expected. Then she saw Kristoff, his arm still outstretched from where he had struck her, knocking her backwards as he leapt in front of her. The bolt struck him in the back. As though some cruel god was pulling the strings, time seemed to slow. She saw pain flash across his face. She saw every muscle in his body tense. She saw his eyes widen. Then, she saw his face slacken. She saw his body relax. She saw his eyes empty. He landed on the ground with a dull thud, his face turned towards her, his eyes open, an unending, unseeing stare.

“NO!” The scream tore from Anna’s lips as though ripped out of her, a scream echoed from her left. She scrambled to her knees, clutching at Kristoff’s limp form. “KRISTOFF! NO! PLEASE! WAKE UP!”

“Heins! HEINS! NO!”

“It was foolish to stand against me,” a calm, smooth voice said. “Now…. die.”

As the magic that would end her life arced through the air towards her, Anna locked eyes with her sister. She saw grief and acceptance reflected there. They both closed their eyes, and waited for death.


	106. Return of the Queen: Alan - The Last Stand of the Queensguard

“Something’s not right,” Baldur whispered to Alan. The five of them were huddled in one of the old watchtowers along the castle walls, having scaled it easily a few minutes prior, even Martha making the climb with relative ease. To their surprise, they had found it empty.

“Agreed,” Alan muttered back. “This is going way too well.”

“You think it’s a trap?” Cari asked.

“Without a doubt,” Leila said. “There’s no way in hell there’s not a single spy in the Loyalists. Hans now knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Royals are still alive, as well as knowing they have the Spirits.”

“You’re right,” Baldur said. “And there’s no  _ way _ he doesn’t at least suspect they know about the Source at this point.”

“What do we do?” Martha asked.

“I don’t think it matters,” Alan said. “Dawn’s only a few hours away. If we don’t do this, Elsa, Anna, Heins, and Kristoff are dead. We just have to be prepared for anything, same as before. Anyone disagree?” No one spoke. “Alright.”

* * *

The rest of the night seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. Alan wasn’t sure if he fell asleep at any point, but regardless, dawn came what felt like moments later. He crept over to the window and surveyed the castle and courtyard. A moment later, Cari joined him. Leila, Baldur, and Martha were asleep in the corner. “What do you see?” Cari murmured.

“Nothing yet. Anna should get here soon. Once she does, I expect a lot of movement. Baldur and I can get down there and try to get some info on where the Source is. We won’t be gone long regardless.”

* * *

The chaos caused by Anna’s challenge proved the perfect cover. Alan and Baldur had no trouble blending in with the flurry of activity in and around the castle, and it wasn’t long before they had managed to ask enough leading questions to confirm what they already suspected- the entrance to wherever the Source was buried was in the dungeons. It had only made sense- if you had to dig to get somewhere, why not start from the lowest point you could?

* * *

The castle had all but emptied only an hour later. Alan watched as Hans and his brother left the castle, crossing the courtyard and leading a large assembly of troops out into the city proper, where thousands more soldiers waited, arrayed through the streets, assembling by the gates, ready to march out and meet the Loyalists. “Looks like Hans agreed to the duel- or at least, is pretending to,” Baldur said, peering out the window at the departing army. “Come on. Let’s go.”

* * *

Alan’s sense of unease did not lessen as the five of them crossed the courtyard, sticking to the shadows as best they could in the mid-morning sun. They got to the castle wall, then moved along it to the servant’s quarters. After a peek through a window to make sure the room beyond was empty, Leila elbowed a piece out of it, then reached through and unlatched it. It swung open silently, and the five of them climbed into the castle.  _ This is going way too well. _ “Where is everyone?” Baldur whispered.

* * *

The hallways, so far as they could tell, were as deserted as the rest of the castle. They saw no signs of anyone, guard, servant-  _ anyone _ as they made their way towards the entrance to the dungeons. Alan felt like he was being watched.

* * *

“Alright, there’s the door to the dungeons,” Alan said, pointing at a small door at the far end of a long hallway, lined with doors leading to servant’s areas, kitchens, and storerooms. “Move,” he ordered, and the five of them set off down the hallway, Martha in the middle, Alan and Cari in front, Leila and Baldur bringing up the rear. They arrived at the dungeons, and Alan tried to push the door open, but it didn’t budge- it was locked.

“Cari, can you-”

“Having trouble?” a loud, arrogant-sounding voice said. The doors that lined the hallway burst open, and Empire soldiers streamed out of them, cutting off their escape. Within seconds, the halway was full of a sea of black uniforms. Alan gripped his sword. He’d thought it might be a trap, but this… Any hope he’d still been harboring of making it out of this alive evaporated on the spot. “Kill them,” the same voice commanded, and the black tide surged forward.

“Cari, open that,” Alan snapped. She darted to the door and dropped down, sliding her lockpick into the keyhole, while Martha stood next to her, eyes wide and panicked. “This is it- hold them at all costs!” he ordered Baldur and Leila, then charged forward. The first few ranks of soldiers, pushed forward too fast by those behind them, fell before their three blades without delay, unable to move or maneuver properly, but as the tide stabilized, Alan fought for every breath he took. The narrow width of the hallway kept more than two or three from attacking each of them at once, but it was only a matter of time before they were overwhelmed.  _ We have to hold them as long as we can _ , he thought with a grim sort of finality.

“It’s open!” Cari screamed. “Go!” Alan heard the door slam. “We’ll hold them off! GO! NOW!” Cari rushed to Alan’s side, and the last four Queensguard fought for every second they could get. 

How long did they fight? Minutes? Hours? Days? Who knew. Every black uniform that Alan cut down was replaced by another in an instant. The last Queensguard fought for the hopes of their King and Queen, their Prince and Princess, their friends, their land, their homes, their people, their  _ kingdom _ . And they would not let them down. They fought more fiercely, more ferociously, more savagely than any who came before or after. They fought for the world, a world that would never know the depth of their sacrifice, the true price of their freedom. They made the Empire pay tenfold for every drop of blood they shed. The sounds of combat, of steel on steel, of sinew and muscle yielding to metal, of screams of pain and death, blended together in Alan’s mind, taking the form of music, and he was only too happy to have this dance. 

Baldur was the first to die. As he slaughtered those foolish enough to challenge him, the floor grew slick with blood, and it would be his undoing. He slipped. It was as simple as that. He didn’t even fall. It broke his guard enough to allow one of the Empire soldiers to knock his sword out of his hand, then run him through the gut. He survived long enough to kill the soldier, drawing his knife from his belt and slashing the soldier’s throat open with it, but then he fell, and a swarm of black uniforms descended on him like buzzards. Leila jumped to his defense with a feral scream, slaughtering the first four soldiers who charged, but she too was quickly overwhelmed, her skill and ferocity buckling under the weight of dozens of black uniforms. As she fell to the floor and landed on her back, Alan saw with cruel clarity her and Baldur’s hands find each other, clasp together, twitch as the blades descended, over and over, until they moved no more. 

Cari never saw the soldier that took her life, but Alan did. As Cari killed two men in front of her with two precise thrusts, a third, his blade stained with the blood of Leila, got behind her and thrust his sword through her heart. Her spine arched, her lips opened in a silent scream, her face contorted with pain, and then she crumpled to the floor, her last act locking eyes with Alan, and all he saw there was loneliness and regret, and then they emptied. 

Now alone, Alan knew his time was up. But god dammit, he would take as many of the bastards with him as he could. By the time he was finally overwhelmed, wounds covering his body, another fourteen soldiers lay on the floor in front of him. As he felt the blades enter his body, over and over, he hoped they had bought enough time. His last thought, as his eyes came to rest on the unmoving form of Cari, was this:  _ She’s so beautiful. I never told her I loved her... I wonder... if... _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rest in peace, Queensguard. You did well.


	107. Return of the Queen: Martha - A Life's Purpose

Martha ran down the stairs as fast as she dared, half blind with terror and shock, as she heard the sounds of combat from behind her. She  _ HAD _ to find the Dreamwalker. She had to make this worth it. For Jakob, for Shana, and now, for Alan, Cari, Baldur, and Leila. They’d known it was a trap, and they’d gone anyway, because their lives didn’t matter. Only Martha’s did. She  _ HAD  _ to earn that.

She reached the bottom of the stairs and whipped her head back and forth. Two soldiers stood at attention outside a cell, and she barreled down the hallway towards them. They looked at her with alarm, but no fear. She must not look very threatening, no more than skin and bones, a short woman who looked like a small child could defeat her. “Woah there,” one said, catching her arm as she made to run past him. He wore no gloves. Martha had never been able to completely stop her powers from affecting people she touched. One thing she had learned how to do is how to pump them up. She reached out and grabbed the other guard’s hand, and focused all her energy on her power. At once, the guards gasped and tried to pull away, but Martha tightened her grip on the one whose hand she held and seized the hand of the one she did not. They died in seconds, their energy nourishing Martha, soothing her muscles and steadying her hands.

The cell they’d been guarding had a tunnel leading out of it, down into the earth, and it was down this tunnel that Martha sprinted now. It spiraled underground, and Martha, concentrating on moving as fast as she could, lost all sense of how deep she had gotten, knowing only that she kept having to swallow to stop her ears from popping. Eventually, the tunnel opened up into a large, dome-shaped cave, lit with thousands of sparkling gemstones in the stalactite covered ceiling. Martha gasped. Despite the seriousness of the situation, despite all the turmoil raging in Martha’s heart- it was  _ beautiful _ . She tore her eyes away from the ceiling and looked around quickly. There, in the center of the cavern, perhaps fifty yards away, lay what looked like a child on a stone slab, surrounded by stalagmites that wound their way all the way to the circular walls. She almost sprinted to the center, but then admonished herself for being reckless.  _ The Dreamwalker is down here somewhere _ .

She crept forward, eyes wide and alert for any motion, ears perked up. In theory, the Dreamwalker wouldn’t be able to affect her mind, but she still had to get her hands on him to steal his powers. He could still kill her the old-fashioned way before she got the chance. As she approached the slab, her breath caught in her chest. The Dreamwalker was down here, alright, and it looked to her like he had been for a while, and didn’t plan on leaving soon. His body lay sprawled across the floor, half-decomposed.

“No,” Martha moaned. Her legs went numb and she fell to her knees. She couldn’t take the powers of a dead man. “No, no, no, no,” she repeated, beginning to cry. They’d failed. If the Dreamwalker was dead, then Hans must have already succeeded, isn’t that what Alan had said? That the Source was the Source of all magic, and he was trying to use it to become a Spirit? But wait… if the Source was the Source of all magic…

Martha looked at her hands. Is this why she had been born? Is this why she had been cursed to never be able to touch? To kiss, to caress, to fall in love? Is this why? So that she could die down here, never knowing what it was like to truly live, to be held by one she loved, to hold them in return? The unfairness of it all filled her chest with hurt, and her eyes stung with unshed tears. She climbed to her feet. Her legs trembled, but they held her. She took shaky steps towards the slab. The girl lying on it looked to be around ten, wearing an even rattier dress than what Martha usually wore. Her face was filled with anguish, as though caught in a bad dream. Martha could hear approaching footsteps, thundering down the tunnel towards her. The Queensguard had fallen, and Martha would soon die. She clenched her jaw, her stomach churning. What was there to lose? Martha reached out and grabbed the girl’s arm.

Martha gasped, her vision going dim as a universe thundered through her head, brushing her mind aside like dust before a hurricane, destroying her sanity in one blissful instant. She saw. She felt. She lived and died a thousand times. She saw infinity, and she saw oblivion. She saw delights, and she saw horrors. The last thing Martha was aware of was a calming presence, a mother’s gentle embrace, and two whispered words.  _ Thank you… _

And then the shell, that had once been called Martha, died.


	108. Return of the Queen: Elsa - Broken Promises

Elsa held the body of the man she loved, watching the girl she loved do the same, and closed her eyes, awaiting the cold, comforting embrace of death as the blue energy arced towards her. To her surprise and her disappointment, it did not come. She opened her eyes again to see Anna, opening her own, her brow furrowed in confusion, then turned to see Hans, his hands outstretched, his mouth open and his eyes wide with shock.

“What?” he gasped. He thrust his hands forward again, and Elsa braced for the impact, but nothing happened. She and Anna looked at each other, then, by mutual understanding, gently lay their husbands down and climbed to their feet. Both raised their hands, summoning the magic to rip Hans apart, but… nothing happened. Elsa searched her mind for that bright corner of light, and realized that, for the first time in her life, it was not there. She and Anna exchanged another glance.

“You either?” Anna asked, her voice low and dull, lifeless. 

“No. They did it…” Anna nodded, her face blank. “I don’t need magic.”

“Me either. Let’s finish this.” Together, Frost gripped tight in Elsa’s hand, Silva in Anna’s, they strode forward.

“Whatever,” Hans snarled. “I’ll kill you both myself.” Hans ran forward, swinging his sword, but Elsa and Anna both blocked his blows almost lazily. He fell back, sweating and looking down at his hands. “What?” he gasped.

“You depend on magic too much,” Elsa said, and Frost moved almost faster than even Elsa herself could see, slashing open Hans’s cheek from lip to ear. He fell back, crying out in pain and clapping a hand to the wound, his sword tumbling to the stone floor.

“See, we used it to help what we already had,” Anna said, driving Silva into Hans’s thigh, then ripping it out, severing the muscles there and sending Hans crashing to the ground as he screamed in agony. “Oooh, that looks painful. You had nothing but the magic.”

“Are you feeling afraid yet?” Elsa asked. Hans was trying to crawl away as Elsa and Anna ambled along behind him in the trail of his blood. “Do you have any idea how many people you’ve killed? How many of  _ my friends _ you’ve killed?” She slashed downward with Frost, slicing clean through Hans’s achilles tendon. He screamed again, dragging himself with just his arms now, both legs useless.

“I wish we could give you one cut for every single one of them,” Anna said, flicking Silva out to rip open Hans’s back from his right shoulder to his left hip, and he collapsed against the ground, not having the strength to crawl any more.

“Mercy,” he gurgled, blood spattering the ground in front of his mouth as he spoke. “Mercy.”

“Your brother asked for the same thing,” Elsa said. “Do you want to guess how that worked out for him?” She looked at Anna. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

Side by side, Frost and Silva plunged downwards. It was impossible to tell which pierced Hans’s heart first. They stared down at his body with expressions of disgust. It was over. Elsa threw Frost aside. Silva clattered to the ground shortly after. The two sisters looked at each other. For so long, Elsa had dreamt of this moment, of finally casting down her foe, of defeating the Empire. But now that she had it, it didn’t really feel like a victory. A mixture of weariness and grief were plain on both sisters’ faces as they turned back towards their husbands.

The walk to Heins’s side felt like it took a thousand years. She dropped to her knees beside him and put two fingers on his neck, hoping against all odds, against all the evidence of her eyes and her heart, that she would feel a pulse…. No heartbeat matched her own. No life thudded beneath her fingers. Next to her, Anna was doing the same to Kristoff, and Elsa could see from the look on her face that Kristoff, too, was truly dead. Elsa’s own heart pounded painfully, tauntingly, in her chest, each beat a reminder that it now beat alone. 

The hair on the back of Elsa’s neck stood up. “Hey, do you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Anna mumbled, not looking up from Kristoff’s face, which was being splashed with Anna’s tears.

“Exactly. Listen.” The day had fallen silent. The sounds of battle surrounding them had ceased. Not only that,  _ all _ sounds had ceased. There was no wind, no birds, no anything. Her first thought was that she’d gone deaf, but that couldn’t be it, she could hear her own voice and Anna’s just fine.

“What the hell?” Anna whispered, her sorrow brushed aside in the immediate alarm. “How long has it been like this? I didn’t even notice,” she said, getting up and jogging over to the side of the arena to look out beyond. “Elsa, come look at this!”

Elsa ran to join her. “What- oh my god…” The sound was not the only thing that had ceased.  _ Everything _ had ceased. It was as though she was looking out at a painting. Men stood frozen, their blades locked in combat. Birds hung motionless in the air. Blood shimmered in the midday sun, caught in spectacular spraying patterns that would not fall. “What the hell is going on?”

“Do not be alarmed,” a soft voice said from behind them. Elsa and Anna whirled around to see a young girl standing in the center of the arena. She was barefoot, perhaps ten years old, and was clad in a ratty gray dress.

“Did you do this?” Elsa asked breathlessly, feeling a chill run up her spine when the girl nodded.

“So you  _ are _ the Source,” Anna whispered, and the girl nodded again.

“I am,” she said with a sad smile. “I apologize for the ordeal you’ve been through. I hope it would comfort you to know that those you have lost are safe in my care.”

“I’d rather him be here, in mine,” Elsa said, looking towards Heins’s body, her voice cracking.

“Hmm?” the Source murmured, frowning. “Oh! Them? They have not yet passed into my realm.”

“What?” Anna gasped. “You mean they’re still alive?!”

“Indeed,” the Source said, smiling, looking so much like a happy child that Elsa had to remind herself that she was standing before a god.

“But- they died! They stopped breathing, their hearts stopped!”

“Not so,” the Source said. “I simply… hmm… I froze them. As I have done to them-” she gestured out towards the still battlefield- “I did to your beloved, only to a slightly lesser extent. I had not yet gained full awareness, you see, it was all I could do at the moment.”

“Yes!” Anna cheered, starting to run forward, then hesitating. “Um… Is it alright if I… hug you?”

The Source smiled again. “I see you are as full of love as you used to be, child. If you’d like.” Anna squealed in delight and dashed forward, wrapping the Source of all life and magic, a being of infinite power and potential, in a hug, lifting the literal god off her feet and twirling her around, her hair flying out behind her as the Source laughed, again forcing Elsa to remember she was not really a child.

“You meant the Queensguard, didn’t you,” Elsa asked quietly, once Anna had set the Source back on her feet.

“Yes. Martha, too. They all gave their lives to set me free.” Anna, who a moment ago had been beside herself with jubilation, burst into tears. “Do not despair, child,” she said, taking Anna’s hand. “They are with me now. They fought bravely, and now, they are at peace. They know no more pain or strife, and they are resting easy knowing they accomplished their task. But your ordeal is not yet at its end.”

“What do you mean?” Elsa asked, steeling herself and putting an arm around Anna to try and comfort her. 

“Martha is the only one who could stop the flow of my magic, however briefly. You’ll find your own powers have returned.” Just to make sure, Elsa checked, and sure enough, a tiny flurry flitted around her fingers. “Once the flow of time resumes, he too will regain his magic. The Fifth Spirit will inhabit him once more, and he will be quite undefeatable.”

“What?” Anna gasped, wiping the tears from her eyes. “Can’t you stop him?”

“I cannot. He is the Fifth Spirit now. I cannot destroy a Spirit, no matter how I may wish to. It was meant to be a reassurance to the Ancients that betrayed their kind, that I would not betray them in turn. I did not foresee this turn of events then.” 

“There must be  _ something _ we can do,” Elsa pleaded.

The Source met her eyes, and Elsa saw sorrow there. “There is. You can Unite the Four.”

“Unite the Four…” Elsa repeated, trying to work out what the Source meant.

“Yes. By Uniting the Four, the combined power would be capable of destroying a Spirit.”

“Well, we’ve got all Four!” Anna said. “Unfreeze them and let’s do this!”

The Source did not smile. She still had the sorrowful look in her eyes. “To destroy a Spirit, the Four must all exist within one of you. Only then can their power truly combine enough to destroy the Fifth. However… you cannot withstand that amount of power. You would not survive the process.”

Anna took a shaky step back. “But the Fifth Spirit would be destroyed first, right?” The young girl nodded. “Then I’ll do it.”

Elsa had known this was coming. “No way, Anna. I’ll do it.”

Anna turned to face her sister, challenging. “Nope. Nuh-uh. Not this time. You don’t get to be the martyr this time. I’m doing it.”

“Not a chance,” Elsa said. “I’m the older sister. I’m the Queen. It’s my responsibility.”

“Exactly- you’re the Queen. I’m just the spare. The Kingdom needs you. Ciri needs you. No one needs me. I’m doing it.”

Elsa clenched her jaw at the mention of Ciri’s name, but forced the feelings aside. “You’re wrong. The people need you more than they need me. I’m doing it.”

The two sisters stared at each other, both hardly daring to breathe. The Source had fallen silent, and was simply watching. Waiting. The tension between them stretched, and Elsa reached for the magic in her mind, knowing Anna was doing the same thing. “Anna, look, I-”

Anna made a sudden motion. Elsa dove to the side as a geyser of flame erupted where she had just been standing, her own hand flying forward to retaliate with a blast of ice, which Anna answered with a blast of her own. Elsa landed hard and rolled, springing to her feet and following up with a fast pattern of attacks, not trying to kill, only disable. She knew from their brief fight after Kristoff’s return that she had to end the duel quickly, or she  _ would _ be overwhelmed. Anna responded by creating a half-sphere of fire over herself, burning so intensely that Elsa had to shield her face from the heat, which melted the incoming ice instantaneously. 

Anna spun around, forming the half-sphere into a thin, sinuous tendril that looped around Anna’s hand and launched itself towards Elsa’s outstretched arm. Elsa focused, and an instant later, she had a three inch thick gauntlet of ice on that arm. The tendril of flame looped around her forearm like a lasso and tightened at once, but Elsa’s arm was protected. She yanked back, pulling Anna towards her, then thrust her other palm against Anna’s chest and unleashed a powerful blast of snow at point blank range. The air was driven from Anna’s lungs as she was knocked over, landing hard on her back, and then Elsa was straddling her, pushing her chest down with one hand, thrusting the other to Anna’s forehead, closing her eyes. 

Feeling Anna struggle to catch her breath, her hands scrabbling to push Elsa off her, Elsa knew she only had seconds. She had no idea how she was supposed to get Ifrit, but she reached out with her magic towards Anna’s mind, the first time she had ever done anything like this, operating on pure instinct. To her surprise, it was almost easy to sense Anna’s mind, and the Spirit that dwelled within. It was like a glowing island in a sea of darkness, and Elsa plunged inside it. “IFRIT!” Elsa roared inside Anna’s head. “JOIN ME!”

“As you command, child,” a deep, guttural voice that must belong to Ifrit said, and then Elsa felt the largest head rush she’d ever experienced in her life. Her balance went at once as her vision swam in front of her eyes, and she felt herself tipping sideways, off of Anna. She lay there on her side for a moment, her head spinning.

“No! NO! ELSA, GIVE IT BACK!” Anna screamed, scrambling to her hands and knees and shaking Elsa by the shoulders. “GIVE IT BACK!”

“I’m sorry, Anna,” Elsa mumbled, trying to get her vision to focus on Anna. Her face was contorted with anguish, and her eyes shone with tears. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t let you do it.” Elsa struggled to sit up. “I couldn’t….”

“DAMMIT, Elsa!” Anna sobbed. “Why couldn’t you just let me do it!?”

“You’ve saved me so many times, Anna… Let me save you this time.”

“What about Ciri, huh?” Anna asked, an edge of desperation in her voice, her eyes wild. “You don’t want to break your promise, do you?!”

“It’s too late, child,” the Source’s soft voice said, as the young girl stepped up next to Elsa, looking down at the two of them sadly. “Even if she wished it… she cannot give the power back to you now.”

Elsa swallowed hard. “Tell Ciri I’m sorry.”

“Elsa- I…” Anna stammered, then she burst into fresh tears, throwing herself into Elsa’s arms, sobbing, gasping for breath.

“It’ll be okay, Anna,” Elsa whispered, stroking her hair. “It’ll all be okay.”

“No it won’t!” Anna wailed. “Not without you!”

“I’ll always be with you, Anna. Always.”

“But it’s not the same!”

“I know. I’m sorry, Anna.” As Anna cried, clutching at her sister, Elsa looked up at the Source. “Can I say goodbye to…” she gestured vaguely towards where Heins and Kristoff lay frozen.

The Source shook her head. “I’m sorry, child. If I resume the flow of time for them, so too would it resume for the Fifth Spirit. And… I cannot keep it frozen for much longer. Even now, the fabric of existence is fraying. This is but a glacier in the sea of time, and at its edges, waves batter it apart.”

“I understand,” Elsa sighed. “Anna, come with me.” She gently pushed Anna off her, then helped her stand. Anna clutched Elsa’s hand, still sobbing, but she moved alongside her sister as she went first to Kristoff. She knelt down next to him and placed a hand on his forehead. She closed her eyes and reached out towards his mind. His was as easy to locate as Anna’s, but very distinct. It was as though who Kristoff was had been distilled down to a single feeling, and that’s what Elsa felt. “Titan!” she called within his mind. “Join me!”

“As you command, child,” another deep voice, this one softer and smoother, replied. The head rush this time was less intense, or maybe it was Anna’s hand in hers, steadying her, but soon enough, she felt a third nugget of bright light join the other two in that deep recess of her mind. She looked down at Kristoff, tears welling in her eyes.

“Thank you for everything, Kristoff,” Elsa whispered, bending down and kissing his forehead. “You better take care of my sister, you hear me? I’ll be watching.” Reluctantly, Elsa stood and moved over to where her own husband lay, Anna still clutching her hand, crying.

Elsa knelt at his side and put her hand on his forehead. His mind, too, was distinct, completely alien to her, and yet instantly recognizable as her husband’s. “Valefor! Join me!”

“As you command, child.” Elsa sat back on her heels as the fourth Spirit joined the others, Uniting the Four at long last. When the rush had passed, she opened her eyes and looked down at the still face of Heins.

“Oh, Heins…” Elsa sighed. “I’m so sorry. I wish we had longer together. I wish I’d never run off on you that night. I wish we could have been a happy family, you, me, and Ciri. I’m so sorry for everything.” She bent down and kissed him, wishing he could kiss her back. “I love you, so much. Now, and forever. I’ll always be with you. Take care of Ciri for me, okay?” She reached in her pocket and took out the wooden heart Ciri had carved for her. She ran her thumb over the snowflake and read the inscription, one last time, then tucked it into Heins’s pocket.

“Child,” the Source urged. “Hurry.”

Elsa sighed and rose to her feet, still holding Anna’s hand. “I’ll tell him,” Anna croaked, her voice hoarse from sobbing. “I’ll tell them both. Ciri too.”

“Thank you,” Elsa said, her voice breaking. “I love you. I’m so sorry.”

“I love you too.”

“Will you… stay with me? Until…” Elsa couldn’t finish the sentence, but Anna nodded jerkily. 

Now that the moment of her death had arrived, she was not ready. How cruel it was that for most of her life, she had wished she had never been born. Now, standing here at the edge of oblivion, she found that she did not want to go. Her heart had never beat harder or faster, protesting against the coming sleep. Regret, sharp and burning, filled her, regret for all the life she had yet to live, for all those wasted years locked away in her room, for the decades she should have had with her family, for the love she should have shared in for years and years to come. Instead, what did her life amount to? Pain, loneliness, fear. Even now, at the end, she could not even say goodbye to the man she loved. It wasn’t fair.

_ Why now? Why do I have to die now, now that I feel like I know what it is to live?  _ She’d been getting so much better, so much more hopeful, so much more whole, so excited for a life with Heins and Ciri and Anna and Kristoff- and now that was over. She could have done so much more, a life of freedom, of infinite possibilities, cut short. Her life was ending right as it was beginning.  _ Why didn’t I just let Anna win? _ She answered that question the instant it crossed her mind. Because Anna was her little sister. And Elsa protected her little sister. No matter what. She looked at Anna, drinking in every detail, the precise shade of teal of her eyes, every cute freckle dotting her face, memorizing it, memorizing her. Anna looked back, no longer crying, her jaw clenched, determined to be strong for her sister, and Elsa felt resolve fill her body. She was still terrified- oh, god, was she terrified, but she was doing this for Anna, and that made it the easiest thing in the world.

She walked towards Hans. “What do I do?” she asked the Source in a trembling voice. She fought to steady it, she did not want to upset Anna still further by letting her know how scared Elsa was.

“Reach out as you did with the others. The Spirits will do the rest.”

Elsa kicked Hans onto his back, then knelt down. Anna’s hand was trembling, but it still comforted Elsa. She focused on nothing else but the feel of Anna’s hand in hers as she placed her other hand on Hans’s forehead. Her breath quickened. Her jaw clenched. Tears pooled in her eyes, and she closed them, feeling the tears drip down her cheeks. Then, Elsa reached out with her magic for the last time.


	109. Return of the Queen: Anna - Help Her

Anna had done her crying. She could not stop her hand from shaking, but she would not cry. She would be strong for her sister. She did not cry when Elsa placed a trembling hand on Hans’s forehead. She did not cry when Elsa’s eyebrows creased as she reached out with her magic. She did not cry when Elsa gasped and doubled over, her face twisting up in agony as the Spirits rushed through her mind. She did not cry when Elsa’s hand squeezed hers tighter than ever as Elsa whimpered in pain. She did not cry when Elsa’s grip grew weaker, her breaths coming faster and shallower in wheezing gasps. After ten seconds that felt like an eternity of Anna watching her sister die, Elsa slumped over, and before Anna could do anything else, the Source spoke again. “It is done,” she said in a quiet voice. “Help her.”

“Help her what?” Anna choked.

“Help her.”

Anna took Elsa into her arms, turning her onto her back, cradling her as she would a child. Elsa’s breaths were growing weaker, and her eyes fluttered open, though they did not seem to see. They wandered around, dazed and unfocused. “Hey sis,” Anna whispered, her voice hoarse. Elsa’s eyes slid over to Anna’s, as her breathing became more ragged, her chest rattling and wheezing with every breath. They saw Anna, but did not seem to know her. “It’s okay, Elsa,” Anna sniffed, putting a hand on Elsa’s cheek, stroking it with her thumb. “It’s okay. I’ve got you. It’s okay.” The blue eyes cleared and focused on the teal. The corner of her mouth tugged in a smile. One hand came up and laid on top of Anna’s for one brief moment. Then the breath seeped out of her. Her eyes slipped back out of focus. Her shallow breaths ceased. Her mouth slackened, the smile fading from her face. Her arm fell, her body relaxed in Anna’s arms. And then, as Anna clutched her sister to her chest, she cried.


	110. Return of the Queen: Elsa - Shiva

Elsa opened her eyes in total darkness. She was falling, or floating, it was hard to tell, in what appeared to be an endless void. Was this where people went when they died? She thought back to the conversation she and Kristoff had shared.  _ Man, were we  _ both _ wrong!  _ she thought. She looked around, but could not make anything out in the darkness. She wiggled her body, and felt nothing around her, no surface to lie or stand on, no anything. “Hello!?” she called, but even her own voice sounded muffled. She tried to summon her ice, and found that she could not. She was dead, she was pretty certain of that. But if this was all she had to look forward to from now until the end of time… panic started to swell in her chest at the thought.  _ Calm down,  _ she told herself.  _ Don’t freak out. What do you remember? _

That part was easy enough. She’d taken the four Spirits within herself, and they had ravaged her mind and body as they waged war against their ill-gotten brethren, destroying the perverse Fifth Spirit until nothing remained. She thought she remembered seeing Anna’s face one last time, before the end, but she couldn’t be sure. She smiled sadly at the thought of her sister. The prospect of never getting another warm hug from that redhead was an agony approaching torture.

“Hello, child.” The voice was sudden and overwhelming, and yet, Elsa felt a certain gentleness in its tone. She didn’t  _ hear _ the voice as much as she felt it, and as she listened to its cadence, its rhythm, she was reminded of her mother. It had that same, loving warmth to it.

“Hello?” Elsa asked the black, and then, very suddenly, she was not in the black anymore. There was a woman in front of her, a gargantuan woman, hundreds or even thousands of feet tall, though without anything to judge her size against, it was impossible to say for certain. She floated in the void, her pale blue skin covered only by a translucent dress of ethereal white. She looked down at Elsa, towering over her, her eyes precisely the same shade of teal as Anna’s had been, which didn’t help the longing in Elsa’s heart, the longing for the embrace of her sister. “You’re Shiva, aren’t you?”

“I am,” Shiva said with a smile, though her lips did not move with her words. 

“Where am I?”

“You are in the domain of the Spirits.”

“I’m… dead, aren’t I?”

The smile faded, to be replaced with a sorrowful, sympathetic look. “Yes.”

“Is this all there is?” Elsa asked, her stomach churning, praying the answer was no.

“No.”

Elsa sighed. “That’s a relief. It’d get a bit boring.” Shiva smiled again. “Why am I here, then?”

“I wished to meet you, or rather, I wished for you to meet me. I have known you your whole life. And I am very, very proud of you.”

Being told that an immortal demigod was proud of her is not something Elsa ever expected to hear. “Thank you,” Elsa said eventually, figuring that was the safest answer. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course,” Shiva said with a gentle laugh. “I’d be very surprised if you didn’t.”

“Why me? I never passed your trial. Why did you pair with me?”

Shiva sighed, smiling wistfully. “Mother- or, as you have taken to calling her, the Source- had foreseen this coming ruin for many of your lifetimes. You are the only one who could have succeeded in vanquishing it, or rather, the two of you.”

“Two of us? Do you mean Anna and me?”

“Yes,” Shiva said. “The bond the two of you share is uncommonly strong. Even now, this bond will continue to play a part in times yet to come.”

“What do you mean? Anna still has some role to play in all this?”

“Yes, I believe so.”

“But I don’t.”

“No. Your role in these matters is concluded. It is up to your sister now.”

Elsa had expected this answer, but it still hurt. Against all reason, she could not keep from hoping that she could somehow return to Anna, to Heins, to Kristoff, to Ciri- but it seemed that truly was out of her reach. “That day, in Arendelle. When I found Anna again. That magic… it was far beyond me. Was that you?”

“It was.”

“Then you saved Anna. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, child,” Shiva said gently, smiling again.

“Was it you who saved me when I fought the fire magician in Corona?”

“No,” Shiva said, shaking her head. Her hair moved about as though underwater with the motion. It was a little hypnotizing, the way it billowed in elegant waves. “That was Mother. Even while under the Usurper’s dog’s spell, she did as much as she could to aid you in your fight.” 

Elsa dropped her gaze, troubled. “You said the Source- sorry, Mother, had foreseen this. Now I hear that you and her have been aiding me without my knowledge. Does that mean… was this all just fate? Was I just a little girl, playing some part I had no control over? Did my life… Did my life even matter, in the end?”

The woman in front of Elsa began to shrink, down and down until she was no taller than Elsa, and floated towards her. She reached out with one delicate hand and caressed Elsa’s cheek, her face full of kindness and understanding. “You mattered, child. Receiving our aid did no more to invalidate your triumph than did the help of those around you. Mother saw one possible outcome among trillions. At any point, you could have strayed from the razor’s edge, and all would have fallen to ruin. But you didn’t.” Shiva smiled, and there was so much pride and empathy in her expression that Elsa’s eyes prickled with tears. “You were…. Extraordinary, Elsa.”

Elsa noted the use of her name, and a tear ran down her cheek. She took a moment to absorb this. For months she’d believed herself to be no more than a pawn of forces she did not understand. Now, it turns out that while that was true, it was not the whole truth. She did matter. She made a difference. It was an odd feeling to consciously ruminate on one’s own life with such certainty of its end. That might be a first, for all Elsa knew. “So… what happens now?”

“If your curiosity is sated, then you will go on to join Mother.”

“Can I… see my family? Can I watch over them? I want to… I want to make sure they’re okay.”

“You may, once you join Mother.”

Elsa nodded. Okay then. Okay th-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They did it. Four updates left in this tale. See you Saturday.


	111. Return of the Queen: Anna - Picking Up the Pieces

“Anna?!”

“Elsa?!”

Kristoff and Heins’s dazed voices came as though from miles away. The sound of combat from all around the arena was hollow. It was taking place in some faraway land, not here. Anna’s world had spiraled into itself, down and down until it now only contained two things, Anna, and the dead woman in Anna’s lap. 

She looked at Elsa’s hands. Those hands would never take hers again, never embrace her again. 

She looked at Elsa’s eyes. Those eyes would never open again, never light up at the sight of Anna again. 

She looked at Elsa’s lips. Those lips would never smile again, never form Anna’s name again. 

She looked at Elsa. Elsa would never be again. 

Slowly, gently, tenderly, Anna lifted Elsa, then laid her on the ground, closing her eyes and arranging her arms and neck as though she were only sleeping. She left a kiss on Elsa’s cheek, then sat back.

“Anna!” Kristoff’s voice sounded, as footsteps pounded up behind her. “Is Hans- wait- is _Elsa_ -” 

“Elsa!” Heins screamed, dropping to his knees beside her, grabbing her by the shoulders, trying to get her to wake up. “ELSA!”

“She’s gone, Heins,” Anna said dully, staring at the ground. There was a stabbing pain in her chest. “She’s gone.”

“No!” he shouted. “Elsa, wake up! Come on, wake up!”

“Anna, what happened?!” Kristoff demanded, as Heins continued trying to wake his wife.

“She sacrificed herself,” Anna muttered. “She took the Spirits into herself… to destroy the Fifth Spirit, even though she knew it would kill her. It should have been me…”

“What?” Kristoff gasped. “She…” He broke off.

“Elsa, _please_ , wake up! ELSA!” Heins was crying now, and he pulled her close to his chest, embracing her tightly, sobbing into her neck, while her arms dangled and her head lolled back.

“This isn’t over… We have to stop the battle,” Kristoff said, sounding dazed. He staggered to his feet and seized Hans’s body by the collar, dragging it to the edge of the arena. “EMPIRE!” he roared with such ferocity that Anna could hear a marked reduction in the sounds of battle surrounding the arena. “YOUR KING IS DEAD! LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPONS!”

Word spread like wildfire. In only a few minutes, the sound of battle had completely faded. Anna could hear demands for surrender, pleas for mercy, weapons clattering to the ground, but still, she did not move. 

“Anna,” Kristoff’s voice said. His tone was gentle. “Come on.” Anna didn’t move. Kristoff knelt in front of her, forcing her to make eye contact. “Don’t let it have been for nothing. We have to finish this. I can help, but we need _you_.”

Anna swallowed. “Okay.”

* * *

Thank every god there was for Kristoff and his resilience. Though the pain and grief was clear on his face, he took charge, shielding Anna from most of the proceedings so that she could continue to mourn her sister in peace. Over the next few hours, the Empire, now led nominally by Hedvik, issued a formal surrender. The Loyalist “army”, such as it were, now united behind Lieutenant Lorenson, took custody of the remaining Empire soldiers, relieving them of their weapons and placing them in chains until they could be properly processed. The Loyalists were assisted by General Hjall and his handpicked men, vouched for by Anna to be honest men who simply fought for the losing side, bewitched by Hans’s deception. They roamed the battlefield to lend legitimacy to Lorenson’s orders. Hedvik was arrested and charged with high treason against the royal family of the Southern Isles, and was placed in Arendelle’s dungeons to await his trial. The deformed man had been cut down by Loyalists when, in a fit of crazed mania, he tried to invade their minds as they attempted to arrest him. Anna wished she’d been the one to kill him in her sister’s stead.

Elsa’s body had been borne back to Arendelle to be prepared for her funeral. Heins accompanied her, flat refusing to leave her side, but not before promising Anna that he would retrieve Martha and the Queensguard and ensure they received the honors they were due. With a sickening feeling, Anna realized that though Elsa had saved the world, she’d never even gotten the chance to enter Arendelle once more as its Queen. 

“I’m going to go get Ciri,” Anna said to Kristoff, just outside Arendelle’s walls, as the day was winding down. “She’ll be expecting us to come get her.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” Kristoff asked.

“No. You’re needed here.” That was true, but it was much more that Anna wanted to see Ciri on her own, to apologize. If she’d only fought harder... “And… thank you. For taking charge today.”

“You’re welcome.” He kissed her forehead, then Anna turned and mounted her horse. She galloped away, into the darkness, past the battlefield, riding much faster and more recklessly than was wise, trying to leave the pain behind her. In the two years after the Fall, when she hadn’t known if Elsa was alive or dead, she’d thought she’d made peace with the prospect. Now… it was as though someone had carved out a piece of her soul. She had never known a day in this world without Elsa in it. Not a single one. How was she supposed to face life without her big sister? As the sky darkened, she raised her hand to create some light for herself, but nothing happened. _Oh. Right._

All too soon, she arrived at the copse of woods she knew Ciri to be in. She could see a small tent set up a dozen yards in from the treeline, and Ciri burst out of it when Anna pulled the horse to a stop. “Elsa!?” she cried, tearing through the trees towards Anna as she dismounted. She stopped in her tracks when she saw it was Anna. Her eyes were wide, and Anna knew Ciri knew. Why else would Elsa not have come to get her? “No…” Ciri whimpered. “No… she promised…”

“I’m so sorry, Ciri,” Anna croaked.

“What happened…?” Ciri asked, sinking to the ground, putting her head in her hands, beginning to cry, and Anna’s heart recieved another sharp stab.

She crossed to where Ciri now sat and lowered herself next to her, putting an arm around her as Ciri’s shoulders shook with her tears. “She saved the world, Ciri. She… sacrificed herself… for all of us.”

Amazingly, Ciri let out a watery laugh. “That’s- just like her,” she said, giggling, and despite herself, Anna giggled too.

“I know,” Anna chortled. “I tried to do it, too, but you know Elsa…” Ciri let out another choked burst of laughter. “She told me to tell you… how sorry she was that she broke her promise. And that she loves you, and that she’ll always love you, and that she’ll-” Anna’s voice broke, and she swallowed hard. “That she- that she’ll always be with you.”

Ciri’s shoulders shook with renewed sobs. “Is- is everyone else okay?” she asked in a halting voice.

“Heins and Kristoff are. The Queensguard…” Anna’s words caught in her throat. “They- they didn’t make it.”

“I- I see.” She broke down in fresh tears. Anna comforted her the best she could, hating that it wasn’t Elsa comforting her instead. “I… I am glad you’re okay, Anna,” Ciri choked out at last.

“It should be Elsa,” Anna muttered. Why hadn’t she fought _harder_? “If I’d just-”

“Don’t. Just… don’t- don’t _think_ like that. Please.”

“Sorry,” Anna sighed. “I just… I’m sorry. You’re right.” And she knew Ciri _was_ right, and though she didn’t believe it just now, maybe if she repeated it to herself enough, she would. 

“I’ve known most of today,” Ciri said in a low voice. “The rose she gave me… it started to melt. A little after midday. I just… I hoped it didn’t mean anything. I hoped she was wrong, like how it cracked when you guys were still alive. But it didn’t just crack. It melted.”

“Oh, Ciri… I’m so sorry.”

“I’m sorry too.” Her hand shook in Anna’s.

“Will you come back to Arendelle with me?” Ciri nodded.

* * *

Anna, Kristoff, Heins, and Ciri had all moved into the castle by the next day. Heins chose to use a guest room, unable to return to the room he and Elsa had shared, despite the fact that it had been restored to its pre-Empire state. The bodies of the Queensguard and Martha were retrieved, and Anna ordered the tunnel that led to the Source’s chamber be caved in and sealed, with all evidence of its existence purged from the records.

Word of what Elsa had done, what it had cost her, swept across the whole of the Empire in a matter of hours, courtesy of the Gareth Express. Thousands of people poured into Arendelle for the funeral, a fact that disgusted Anna. “Most of these people turned their backs on my sister as soon as the going got tough, and now that she saved them all, they’re pretending they liked her the whole time. It’s sickening.” The irony that she had done something similar was not lost on Anna, adding to her swirling storm of grief and guilt, which was further intensified by how no one seemed to care what Martha and the Queensguard had done, choosing instead to focus on Elsa. “They gave their lives for these people, same as her, and no one _cares_ ,” she sobbed to Kristoff one night, who for once had no words of comfort to offer.

The day of the funeral was in stark contrast to Anna’s heart. The sun shone bright in a clear blue sky. There was a gentle breeze in the air, and the beautiful, calming sound of birdsong echoed over Arendelle. Once again, Anna found herself standing at the head of a large group of people she did not know nor did she care to know, as some priest rattled off nonsense about “eternal life” and “a reason for everything” that rang as hollow now as it did when she last stood on this lakeshore. Though she was not alone this time, the one person whose company she craved most was currently resting in a wooden box at the bottom of a grave. The people she most dearly wished were in attendance had given their own lives in service to their Queen. Kristoff stood to her right, and to her left was Heins, and to _his_ left, gripping his hand like a lifeline, was Ciri. Ciri was trembling like a leaf in front of all these strangers, but she was determined to see this through for Elsa. Just before the grave was filled, Ciri placed the wooden heart on the casket, the snowflake facing up, the inscription bearing Ciri’s love facing Elsa.

* * *

Hedvik’s trial was not short, but it was very conclusive. He had claimed innocence at first, saying that Hans had threatened him into taking part in the initial coup, then threatened him further to become one of the Governors. This sparked a two week long parade of witnesses, who had many, many detailed stories of Hedvik’s crimes, including, but certainly not limited to, murder, torture, extortion, blackmail, and fraud, along with the expected treason and familicide. He was sentenced to death and hanged the next day. Anna could have used the guillotine, but that was supposedly less painful.

* * *

The next few weeks were some of the hardest. All Anna wanted to do was cry and lay in bed all day, every day. She had not only lost her sister, but her hope that the loss of Ifrit may at least result in her regaining her ability to bear children was for naught. The absence of her sister and the knowledge that she would never be able to make a family of her own was a pain beyond description, but the collapse of the Empire left power vacuums in Corona and the Southern Isles. She had no time to grieve. The Duchy of Weselton had asked to handle its own affairs, to which Arendelle had readily agreed. Corona and the Southern Isles, on the other hand, had both requested assistance from Arendelle in installing new governments. Kristoff departed for Corona, while Heins set off for the Southern Isles, leaving Anna to continue handling the transition in Arendelle. Ciri remained with Anna despite initially expressing interest in traveling with Heins. When the time came to depart for the Southern Isles, Ciri had such a severe panic attack at the prospect of returning there that she was taken to the medical ward for two days. 

Anna was grateful for Ciri’s company in Kristoff and Heins’s absence. Anna spent all day surrounded by people who did not know Elsa well. To have someone to share her grief with at the end of the day was a gift beyond measure, and Ciri seemed to gain some comfort from Anna’s presence as well.

As part of a compromise between the Loyalists and the former Empire soldiers, Lieutenant Lorenson was elevated to General and placed in command of Arendelle’s armies, while General Hjall became Lieutenant General Hjall as Lorenson’s second in command, positions that both men adjusted to rapidly. 

Corona, part of the same royal family as Anna, had no royalty left to take over, and so Kristoff wound up introducing a council of nobles to oversee the government, an arrangement the citizens took to with enthusiasm. Heins, on the other hand, had a great deal of extended family, and over the course of two months, he was able to arrange for some of them to become the new monarchs of the Southern Isles. However, upon returning to Arendelle, he offered to abdicate, saying that he was not comfortable governing without Elsa when a trueborn daughter of Arendelle had a claim to the throne, not after all the destruction his family had wrought upon the people. If Anna agreed, he would remain in Arendelle at her disposal and care for Ciri, but not as King. Despite initial hesitation, Anna agreed in the end, and was crowned Queen Anna of Arendelle three months after what came to be known as the Restoration.


	112. Return of the Queen: Ciri - Moving On

“Elsa!” Ciri screamed, waking from her nightmare with such a violent jerk that she almost toppled out of bed, barely breaking her fall and heaving herself back up. It took a moment to get her bearings, then she flopped back down on the bed, breathing hard, staring at the darkened ceiling. The mattress under her was damp with sweat, and her hair was plastered to her forehead. A full moon shone through her curtains, lighting the room with a pale glow.

“Ciri, are you okay?” Heins was rushing into her room, his hair messy and his pajamas disheveled. 

“I’m fine,” she said, trying to calm her breathing. “Just a bad dream. Sorry to wake you.”

“You didn’t,” Heins sighed, running a hand over the back of his neck. “Can’t sleep.” Now that Ciri got a good look at him, she believed him. He looked terrible, and exhausted beyond description. His eyes were red as well- he’d been crying, grieving his wife on the six month anniversary of her death.

“I’m surprised I fell asleep at all,” Ciri admitted, sitting up and wiping the sweat off her brow. “Considering what today is.”

“Yeah…. I can’t believe it’s been six months.”

“Me either,” Ciri said, dropping her gaze as Heins trudged over and took a seat on the foot of Ciri’s bed, putting his face in his hands. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Ciri didn’t answer, she just waited. She knew he knew she didn’t believe him. “No, I’m not,” he muttered after a few moments. Ciri tossed her blankets aside and crawled to the other end of her bed, taking a seat next to Heins and leaning against his shoulder. He put his arm around her, then, in a voice choked with emotion, said, “I miss her.”

“I do too.”

“I can’t stop thinking… that she’d be disappointed in me.”

“ _ What _ ?” This was the last thing she expected him to say.

“Never mind,” Heins said quickly. “I didn’t mean that.”

“No no no,” Ciri scolded. “You don’t get to say that and then brush it aside.”

“No, really, Ciri, I shouldn’t have said that. I’m fine.”

“No, really, Heins,” Ciri shot back, copying his tone. “Please. Let me be there for you for once.”

Heins didn’t respond at first, then said, “I really shouldn’t. Try to get back to sleep, okay?” he said, withdrawing his arm and standing up, but Ciri snatched his hand and yanked him back down. “Hey!”

“No, Heins. Please. Talk to me. Let me be there for you.”

“Ciri, I  _ can’t _ , okay?” Heins said, starting to sound upset. “Please drop it.”

“Yes you can,” Ciri insisted. “Why can’t you?”

“I just can’t.”

“Why?” He didn’t answer, he just stared out the window, not meeting her gaze. “Why?” Ciri pressed.

“Because it’s about you!” he burst out.

Ciri blinked in surprise. “What?”

“The thing Elsa would be disappointed in me for,” Heins said bitterly. “It’s you.”

“I don’t understand...”

“I don’t know what to do!” Heins said, his composure gone, his voice starting to tremble. “Not the way she did. I came in here because you had a nightmare and now  _ you’re _ comforting  _ me! _ I’m fucking this up because I don’t know how to do this without her!” He had started crying now, resting his elbows on his knees, his face in his hands. “I don’t know how to do  _ anything _ without her! I don’t know how to  _ be  _ there for you without her! How could she  _ not _ be disappointed? I’m  _ lost _ without her!” He fell silent, silent save for his gasps for breath, and Ciri just sat there, having no idea what to say.

“I’m sorry,” Heins said after a while, rubbing his face and breathing deep and slow with what seemed like tremendous effort. “I didn’t mean to say all that. I’m fine, I am. It’s… Tonight’s… tonight’s been bad. I’m just gonna go. I’m sorry.” He got to his feet once more, and this time, Ciri didn’t stop him. He left the room and closed the door, leaving Ciri feeling upset and very confused.

* * *

“Guys?” Ciri said, approaching the Queen as she ate breakfast with the King in the otherwise empty dining hall early the next morning. “Can I talk to you?”

“Of course,” Anna said, patting the seat next to her, and Ciri slid into it, folding her hands on the table in front of her and staring down at them.

“What’s on your mind, kiddo?” Kristoff asked, wiping his mouth after a large gulp of orange juice.

“Well… I had a bad dream last night.”

“About Elsa?” Anna asked quietly.

“Yeah, but-”

“I did too,” Anna sighed. “Six months…”

“I know,” Ciri agreed. “But that’s not what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to talk about what happened after the dream.”

“Hmm?”

“Well,” and Ciri summarized what Heins had said, and when she finished, both Anna and Kristoff were looking at her with sympathetic expressions.

“Dammit,” Kristoff muttered. “So what did you say?”

“I didn’t say anything,” Ciri admitted. “Didn’t know what to say, and he just walked out before I could come up with anything. I want to help… I just don’t know how.”

“I can imagine,” Anna said, putting a bracing hand on Ciri’s shoulder.

“Let me ask you something, Ciri,” Kristoff said very seriously, pushing his empty plate aside and leaning forward to look directly into Ciri’s eyes. “And please answer honestly. Do you think Heins has let you down at all?”

“No,” Ciri said at once. “Not even a little. In fact, it kills me to hear he thinks he has.”

Kristoff and Anna were both nodding. “That’s what I thought you’d say, but I did just want to check,” Kristoff said. “Have you been back to see Elsa together since the funeral?” Ciri shook her head sadly. “Start there.”

“Then what?”

“Then nothing,” Anna said, picking up the thread of Kristoff’s idea. “Don’t stress about it, just go and be honest about how you feel.”

Ciri bit her lip, thinking. “Okay.”

* * *

“Hey Heins,” Ciri called, knocking on Heins’s open office door. 

“Hey Ciri,” Heins said awkwardly. “I’m really sorry again, about-”

“Don’t worry about it,” Ciri said as lightly as she could. “You busy today?”

“Not particularly,” he said, tossing his pen onto his desk. “What’s up? Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, I just… I wanted to go see Elsa, and wondered if you’d come with me?”

The briefest flash of trepidation crossed Heins’s face, but then he said, “Sure. Give me an hour, if that’s alright, I have a meeting with the harbormaster soon, and then we’ll go.”

“No problem,” Ciri said, smiling. “I’ll come back then.” She walked out of sight, then paused, biting her lip. Anxiety was clawing at her insides. She’d never be able to sit still for an hour.  _ I’ll go into town, _ she thought.  _ Keep occupied until then. _ The anxiety lessened ever so slightly as she headed towards the castle gates.

When Ciri had first moved into the castle, she hadn’t left it for over a month, save for Elsa’s funeral. She was still far too scared of people to be able to handle even the servants in the castle, much less a throng of strangers in a town square. Anna had done the best she could to comfort and ground Ciri, as Elsa had done, but it simply wasn’t the same. Ciri loved Anna very much, but she wasn’t Elsa, and she didn’t have the same aura of calmness and safety that Elsa had exuded. Still, that wasn’t Anna’s fault, and she did stand by Ciri even in her worst moments, and Ciri was eternally grateful to her for that. With her help, she slowly began getting acquainted with the castle staff, one person at a time, until she could walk through the halls with only a small bubble of nervousness in her stomach, rather than the paranoid panic that usually overwhelmed her when she wasn’t sure who was behind the many doors in the corridors.

When Heins had returned from the Southern Isles, her improvement had quickened considerably. While he still wasn’t the one Ciri truly yearned in her heart for, he was a rock-solid, kind, and patient support for her, who Ciri felt as comfortable around as she had her own father. Two weeks ago, he had taken her into Arendelle, and to no one’s surprise more than her own, she found that her hand in his was all it took to keep her grounded in reality. Only a few days after that, she told Heins she wanted to go into town on her own. When he agreed instantly, she knew something was up. She then told him she wanted to go into town on her own,  _ without being followed _ , and he was much more hesitant to agree, but he did in the end. That trip had gone… okay. She made it through the city without completely panicking, but as soon as she got back to the castle, she sprinted back to her room and locked herself in it for the rest of the day. However, after that, she went into town every day, getting a little calmer each time, a little more used to dealing with the crowds.

Today, she felt pretty good, at least as far as the whole “freaking out” thing went. Her heart was still stormy, and she felt terrible about what Heins had said the previous night, but as she walked out the castle doors and across the courtyard, the sun shining through the wispy clouds high above her, some of that worry melted away. She walked past the guards at the gate, who bade her farewell with a friendly smile and a wave, which she returned, then headed for the town square.

Arendelle was still being rebuilt from Anna and Hans’s duel in the streets, and Anna was doing all she could to help. She’d visited the families of everyone killed or injured that day to personally apologize, and while some did not accept it, it was a sign of how bad things were under the Empire that most did. She’d also taken the Empire’s ill-gotten taxes and used them to invest in the city, funding the reconstruction completely, then returned as much of it as she could to the people. As Ciri made her way towards the town square, intending to poke around the market, perhaps buy herself a snack from the bakery, which had just reopened, she was struck by inspiration and changed course. 

As the small abandoned house came into view, she had to blink back tears which had welled up without warning. That door, that tiny, beat-up, warped wooden door, was the same one she’d opened and changed her life forever. She stopped in front of the door, more memories rushing through her mind. She’d been peeking through the threadbare curtains, terrified, hardly breathing, hoping the explosions she kept hearing wouldn’t get closer, and then the storm, the whipping wind, the stinging sleet smacking the windows so hard she feared they would break, and then, once the storm died down, looking out again, to see the Queen dragging the Princess along the street, but Ciri had hardly noticed their status. All she saw was two people, in desperate need of help. There was no hesitation.  _ “Your Majesty, in here, quick!” _

Ciri pushed the door open. The large bloodstain was still visible on the floor, the same bloodstain that had gotten them found. She’d tried to clean it up, but there was so much blood, and almost every cloth she owned was already soaked, either soaked or being used to bandage Her Highness’s shoulder. Her curtains were so shabby they provided no concealment to the soldier who’d glanced inside. Ciri hadn’t even gotten the chance to cry out.

She walked into the other room and pulled the trapdoor open. This is where she thought she’d be killed, that the stories about the wicked Ice Queen were all true, that Elsa would cut her throat to keep her survival a secret, but no. Elsa was simply scared, her sense of security and safety so thoroughly destroyed that she could not even fathom that someone she met _ wouldn’t _ try to kill her. 

She went down the stairs. She’d gone up to try to clean the blood, giving up when it was clear she could not, concealing it the best she could. She’d gone back down to see the Queen already asleep, her brow furrowed as she twitched and mumbled. It tugged at Ciri’s heart to see her looking so troubled, and figured the least she could do is make the Queen more comfortable. She looked over at the wardrobe, where her father’s Assassin armor still hung. She’d taken his sword to try to protect the Queen, but it had been taken from her when the guards stormed in.

“Hey dad,” she mumbled to the armor. “Sorry about the sword.” She fell silent for a while, then said, “Hey… If you see Elsa, will you tell her hi for me? I hope she’s there, wherever you guys are. I hope you’re both okay, and at peace, or whatever. I don’t know. I just… I miss you both… so much.” She swallowed past the lump in her throat, then reached out and took one of the sleeves of her father’s armor, wishing it was his hand, then turned and went back upstairs. She’d been convinced she was dead when the guards took her from her home, but miraculously, the Queen had come for her. She’d had no reason to, no reason to endanger herself or her sister, but she did. For Ciri. For the first time since her father had died, someone was looking out for her. Protecting her. Putting themselves at risk. For her.

There was a loud crash from somewhere nearby. Ciri glanced outside, but the street she could see was deserted. She left the house, looking around for the source, and found it immediately. A man, who looked to be in his late fifties or so, with a long white beard hanging down to his waist, was climbing to his feet. A wooden crate lay on its side in front of him, with what looked like painting supplies spread across the cobblestone street. “Sir, are you okay?” Ciri called, jogging over.

“Yes, I’m fine,” the man sighed as he straightened up. “Just clumsy- tripped over my own feet!” The man wore a genial smile, and Ciri smiled back. Something about him was putting her at ease. “Thank you, young miss,” he said, turning and beginning to bend over to pick up the box, but gasped in pain as he did, clapping a hand to his lower back.

“Sir?” Ciri asked, the smile fading, to be replaced with a concerned frown. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’ll be alright, young miss,” he said, though his breathing was labored. He seemed to be okay standing up, but not bending over, and Ciri barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. Apparently it was not only royalty who were stupid about injuries.

“At least let me help you,” Ciri said, kneeling down and beginning to put the supplies back in the box, as the man tried to protest. “It’s no trouble,” Ciri insisted. She finished clearing up and stood, picking up the (really quite heavy) box, and the man held his hands out. Ciri snorted. “Where is this stuff headed?”

The man’s eyes widened a bit, and he shook his head, saying, “No, please young miss, I’ve taken enough of your time, I’ll be fine, really.”

“If you don’t tell me I’m going to have to guess,” Ciri said, turning and starting to amble up the street, making a show of looking into the different buildings lining the street. “Maybe this one?”

“Fine, fine, you win,” the man grumbled, though there was a cheery twinkle in his eye. Ciri beamed at him.

“Good. Lead the way.” The pair of them headed back towards the town square, Ciri’s original destination anyway.

“Thank you very much, young miss,” the man said as they walked.

“It’s Ciri, and you’re welcome.”

“Ciri, hmm? What a pretty name.” Ciri blushed. It was a silly thing to be proud of, but she had always liked her name. “My name is Francis.”

“Nice to meet you. I’d shake your hand, but…” Ciri said, lifting the box slightly and chuckling. “I’m going to take a wild guess here and say that you’re a painter?”

“Indeed I am,” Francis said. “Since I was a boy. In fact, we’re headed to my shop, which is just there.” He pointed ahead, and Ciri could barely see the entrance to a tiny storefront, set just off the main town square market. It, too, bore the signs of battle, the front of it blackened and scorched, but not too badly. Francis held the door for her as she went in, then told her to set the box on the counter. She did so, then turned around. Francis started to say something else, but Ciri couldn’t hear him. Her eyes had landed on a painting. She moved towards it, dreamlike, as she heard Francis trail off and fall silent. She stopped in front of it and stared, drinking in every detail, every minute brushstroke.

The painting depicted Elsa and Anna walking arm in arm through a field of white flowers on a bright summer’s day, Elsa in a dress of pale blue, Anna of forest green. Their hair and clothing were blowing in a light wind, and flower petals were spread across the scene, frozen in time as the wind carried them away. Both sisters were laughing, and the skill and precision with which Francis had captured their likenesses was uncanny. She could almost hear them.

“That might be my finest work,” Francis said, coming to stand beside her.

“It’s…” Ciri breathed, but she found no word powerful enough to express her feelings. It hurt, but to see Elsa like this, so happy, so at peace, even if it was only a painting... 

Francis didn’t seem to mind. “I painted that soon after the Fall. It was the only way I knew to express my grief and support for them without getting myself killed. It’s nice to finally be able to display it. It’s a shame what happened to Queen Elsa, isn’t it?” Ciri felt a blow to her heart, but Francis couldn’t know who she was and what Elsa meant to her. She nodded. “You liked the Queen, I suppose?”

Ciri chuckled. “You could say that.”

“I had the chance to meet Her Majesty a few times, Queen Anna too, though she was only a Princess at the time. Before the Fall. I painted several of the official events.” Ciri glanced over to see him looking proud, but she couldn’t care less about him painting official events- she was much more focused on what he’d said before that.

“What was she like?” Ciri asked quietly. “Queen Elsa, I mean. Before the Fall.”

Francis looked a little surprised at the question, but he answered anyway. “She was… kind, above all. Compassionate. Gracious, and generous. A little soft-spoken, but she still commanded an incredible presence wherever she went. She took an interest in her people and treated everyone, commoner or otherwise, with the same respect- the day she commissioned the painting for Princess Anna’s wedding, she sat in this very shop for three hours and talked about art with me. She was not very educated on the topic, but her interest was genuine and plain, and did not take any issue on learning about it from a humble painter like me.”

Ciri wiped the tears in her eyes away, and if Francis wondered about them, he did not say so. “Thank you,” she mumbled, her eyes still fixed on Elsa’s face, full of laughter and joy. She might have stayed there, staring at this painting, for the rest of the day, but then, the church bells rang out. “Oh! I’m going to be late!” she said, tearing her eyes away from the painting and hurrying towards the door. “Nice to meet you, Francis. I’ll come back to look at the rest, I promise you that-”

“Wait a moment, Ciri!” he said, moving around the counter and rummaging beneath it. “Let me at least give you something for helping me-”

“No need,” Ciri said, waving her hand as though to ward him off. 

“I can’t let you leave empty handed after you carried that box all that way,” he protested, but Ciri shook her head.

“It’s alright.” She smiled at the memory of a handsome young man, his hair blowing in the breeze. “You don’t need a reason to help people.” 

“You don’t need a reason to help people,” Francis repeated in a mutter, then he smiled. “I like that.”

“I do too.” Waving farewell, Ciri turned and sped back towards the castle to meet Heins.

* * *

The walk to the lake with Heins was spent in uncomfortable silence. Ciri didn’t know what she was going to say when they got there, and it was clear Heins knew Ciri wanted to talk about something, so both remained quiet, unsure if it would even be a good idea to strike up a conversation. Ciri pictured the two of them walking alongside a giant elephant- bring up something too serious, and it would stampede and ruin everything. Bring up something too lighthearted, and it would wander off before they even arrived at Elsa’s grave.

They arrived, just a few minutes after leaving the castle, at the large stone markers of Elsa’s mother and father, and next to them, Elsa herself. Ciri’s throat closed up and her breathing shallowed as the graves came into view, even more memories flooding back and threatening to overwhelm her- Elsa, comforting her on that very first night outside Arendelle, holding her close to keep her warm as the cold rain sprayed into the cave near the Earth Temple, staying up all night just to help Ciri get a few more minutes of sleep, the love and joy in her eyes as she asked Ciri to become her daughter. 

Heins visited once a week at least, but for Ciri, this was the first time she’d been here since the funeral. The loss of the life she thought she’d be getting with Elsa struck her as acutely now as it did on that day, and she felt tears spilling down her cheeks. She arrived at the foot of the grave and knelt down, her head hanging, one hand flat on the ground over where Elsa lay, wishing desperately that Elsa could take her hand even one more time, wishing that she could have seen Elsa, laughing, as carefree as she was in Francis’s painting. She saw Heins’s feet approach, then he knelt down next to her and put an arm around her. She took his hand with her other hand, staying like that while she cried, tears silently splashing to the ground over Elsa’s body. 

“Sorry,” she mumbled, once she had gotten a hold of herself, releasing Heins’s hand and wiping her nose on the back of her sleeve.

“You’ve got nothing to apologize for, sweetheart.”

“I didn’t think… it would still hit me that hard.”

“Is this the first time you’ve been here?”

“Yeah,” Ciri muttered, dabbing at her eyes with her other sleeve now. “Do… do you really think she’d be disappointed in you?” Heins didn’t reply. “I don’t think she would be,” Ciri said quietly. “You’ve been there every single time I’ve woken up crying. You’ve been there every time I freaked out because someone new said ‘good morning’ to me. You’ve helped me so, so much. I’m so much better now, and it’s thanks to you.”

“Yeah, but I should be doing  _ more _ ,” Heins sighed, staring down at the grave. “But I don’t know how, without her.”

“You don’t know how because there’s not any more you  _ can _ do,” Ciri stressed, flopping onto her butt and crossing her legs, facing Heins, pulling his hands so that he faced her too. “You’ve got this insane idea of perfection you’re chasing, beating yourself up for no reason, and I’m not going to stand for it, you hear me?” she said, gaining momentum as she spoke. “Miss her all you want- I miss her too, so much, but I’m not going to have you beating yourself up for letting me down when you’ve done no such thing, got it? The only thing she’d be disappointed in you for is thinking you disappointed her, and I know that didn’t really make sense but shut up, okay?”

Heins smirked. “Get it all out?”

“Depends on what you say next,” she muttered, narrowing her eyes.

“I’ll be careful then.” He let out a long sigh. “I know you’re probably right, but… I just can’t shake the feeling that I’m screwing everything up. I have no clue what I’m doing, and the only person I want to talk to about it is….” he gestured sadly towards the grave. “And it’s not just you, sweetheart. It’s everything. I feel... becalmed. Do you know what that means?” Ciri shook her head. “It’s when a ship is adrift at sea with no wind to drive it. That’s what I feel like. She was my wind. I don’t know what to do without it. I’m just drifting without purpose. And…” He sniffed and wiped his eyes. “I try to be strong for you, and yet, here I am, telling you how pathetic I am while you try to help.”

“Why is that such a bad thing?” Ciri asked softly. “Why should you have to help me but I shouldn't help you?”

“Because I’m the one who’s supposed to take care of you, like she did, it shouldn’t be the other way around.”

“Why?” Ciri asked again. “I can lean on you. I’ve always been able to, and you’ve always been there when I needed you. So again,  _ why? _ Why can’t you lean on me too? I  _ want _ you to. I  _ want _ to be there for you.”

“You’re just a kid,” Heins said. “You shouldn’t have-”

“Correction- I’m not just a kid, I’m  _ your _ kid.”

This seemed to catch Heins very off guard. He stared at her, his mouth hanging slightly ajar. “What?” he said at last.

“I’m  _ your _ kid, and you’re my dad. My second dad, but my dad.”

Heins averted his gaze, and Ciri could see tears pooling in his eyes. “I… I wasn’t sure if that was still what you wanted, without…”

Ciri looked down, devastated. How could she have been so stupid? This explained so much, about everything. She was such an idiot. “Heins… I’m sorry. I didn’t realize… I thought you knew. Of course that’s still what I wanted. I’m so sorry I never actually said it out loud.” Without warning, Heins let out a strangled sort of cry that Ciri initially took for a sob, but realized very quickly was actually laughter. He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into a tight hug.

“I love you, Ciri,” he choked. Ciri smiled, returning the embrace.

“I love you too… Dad.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for sticking with me this far. Three more updates left.


	113. Return of the Queen: Ciri - Miracle

Ciri and Heins sat with Elsa the entire day. It seemed like a great weight had been lifted off Heins’s shoulders, and Ciri soon had to make herself stop apologizing so much. She’d had no clue he was so unsure of how Ciri really felt about him in the absence of Elsa, and what he had said the night before was so much clearer now. They talked about everything and nothing, from serious to mundane, and he even, in a show of trust, confided in her the true details of the Noodle Incident. Though Ciri briefly questioned the wisdom of calling someone who would do  _ that _ “Dad”, in the end, she decided it was worth it. By the time they set off back towards the castle, Ciri felt better than she had since before Elsa’s death. Her absence still felt like a tangible hole in their lives, but now that she and Heins were on the same page, and could tackle their grief together without uncertainty, some of the ragged edges began to smoothen.

They got back well after dark. Ciri could see lights still on in Anna’s office, so when Heins turned towards their rooms, Ciri hesitated. “I’m going to go talk to Anna for a bit. I talked to her this morning about… all this-” she gestured between the two of them- “and I want to let her know what happened.”

“Fine by me, sweetheart. I’ll see you in the morning. Love you.”

“Love you too,” Ciri said back, hugging him before setting off the other way, while Heins stumbled his way towards the bedrooms. He must have been more tired than he let on. Ciri hesitated as she headed for the Queen’s office. She could hear people talking ahead, and while she wasn’t too afraid of strangers, she really didn’t feel like talking to anyone but Anna just now.  _ I’ll go through the servant’s area _ , she thought. That was always empty this time of night. She made her way down the small staircase to where the servant’s rooms were, then-

She froze. Her mouth fell open and her eyes widened at the sight of a naked woman with blonde hair, laying facedown on the floor in the middle of the hallway, fifty feet away. The woman stirred feebly, and the spell broke. “Miss!” Ciri cried, running forward. “Miss, are you okay?” Ciri dropped down next to her, realizing with a start that the woman’s back was scarred badly. She lifted her head, turning her face towards Ciri. “Wait,  _ what!? _ ” Ciri gasped, scrambling backwards, colliding with the wall, her head smacking off it, then sliding along away from the woman. It couldn’t be. That hair… those eyes… those scars... “ _ Elsa?!? _ ”

“Whazgoinon?” the woman who looked like Elsa mumbled. “Where ‘m I?” Her eyes found Ciri, and the woman frowned. “Ciri? I’zat you?” Ciri’s mouth did not seem to want to work, nor did her eyes, lungs, heart, or brain. She just stared. The woman rolled onto her side and pushed herself up, looking down as she did so. “Why’m I naked…” she slurred, in a barely audible voice, trying to cover herself with her arms. For some reason, this broke through to Ciri, and she dashed into one of the servant’s rooms, snatching the covers off a bed and rushing back to the woman’s side. She threw the blanket over her shoulders, and the woman pulled it closer around herself like a cloak. “Thanks…” she muttered. Her eyes seemed dazed and unfocused, but as Ciri looked into them, they were unmistakably Elsa’s. Or was she just hallucinating? She had just spent the entire day at Elsa’s grave, so this was clearly just someone who resembled Elsa. Right? She remembered the man in the Southern Isles who once took on Elsa’s appearance. Could something like that be happening again?

Voices floated down the hall from behind Ciri. She glanced back, and saw shadows moving down the stairs she had come down. They’d reach the bottom in moments. “Come here,” she hissed to the woman, then seized her hand, pulling her to her feet and dragging her into the bedroom where she’d got the blanket, then slammed the door behind her. The woman, who seemed very weak, collapsed onto the bed, her head hanging and her breathing labored and shallow. “Okay, who are you?” Ciri demanded, trying to sound intimidating.

The woman blinked several times, very slowly, and a frown creased her brow. “‘m… Elsa, I think.”

“You think?” Ciri asked incredulously.

“Elsa” put a hand on her forehead, as though she had a headache. “Yeah… No…. No, I don’t just think, I’m Elsa.”

“Elsa’s dead,” Ciri spat, “so who the hell are you, really?”

“I am?” the woman mumbled. “No… I mean… I was. I remember that.”

“No- hang on!” Ciri ordered, rubbing her hands on her temples, thinking. They’d thought Kristoff died once, and they had him prove who he was. Okay, so if this really was Elsa, somehow, she’d have to prove it. How? Ciri strained her mind, trying to think of something that only she and Elsa knew.  _ Come on, Ciri, focus. Be rational. This can’t be Elsa, so just prove it and then you can figure out who it is and what to do with them. _ “How did we meet?”

“You… opened your door to us,” “Elsa” said, her coherence improving as focus and alertness returned to her eyes. “Me and Anna, I mean. Saved our lives.”

Not good enough. Too many people may know that by now. “What was my father’s name?”

“Nell.”

Still not good enough. Anyone that had seen the orphan girl in the castle might know that, but another thought struck her. “What did he do for you?”

“He saved my life, in Corona,” “Elsa” answered without hesitation. 

“This doesn’t make any  _ sense _ !” Ciri huffed in frustration. “You’re  _ dead _ , how can you be here?”

The woman looked down at her own hands. “I have no idea,” she muttered. She turned her gaze to Ciri. “But I am.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hey Elsa.


	114. Return of the Queen: Anna - Impossible Reunion

“Thank you, General Lorenson, that will be all.” The General saluted and left Anna’s office, and she put her head in her hands, rubbing her temples, leaning on her desk. Remnants of the Empire had been harassing villages in the outskirts of Arendelle, but the depleted forces meant that she had almost no men to spare to reinforce them. How had Elsa managed this? She didn’t have the head to be Queen.

There was a pattering of feet outside Anna’s door. The quickness of the steps, the lightness of the gait, the time of night it was- it could only be one person. “Anna!” Ciri cried, smashing the doors open with all the grace of a charging rhino, sending them slamming off the walls so hard they nearly rebounded into her face. She held up an arm to block the doors, then said, “Come quick!”

“What is it, Ciri?” Anna sighed, stifling a yawn. 

“Come on come on come on!” Ciri said, overflowing with excitement, running forward and snatching Anna’s hand, pulling her around her desk.

“Alright, alright, I’m coming,” Anna chuckled. Ciri was beside herself. Anna wondered what it could be. Something to do with Heins, maybe? She’d been worried about the pair of them after their talk that morning. Ciri pulled Anna along, forcing her to jog behind her for fear of being pulled off her feet. “Ciri! Calm down,” Anna said, trying to rein her in before she exploded in giddiness.

“Come on!” Ciri cried again, only pulling harder. They passed several servants on their way home in the hallway, who chuckled and shook their head at the Queen of Arendelle getting pulled along like a toy wagon by a thirteen year old girl.

“Where are we going?” Anna asked, as Ciri pulled her down towards the servant’s quarters.

“You’ll see! It’s right… in… here!” She pushed a door open, one that Anna recognized as leading to one of the maid’s rooms, unused. Ciri rushed into the room, dragging Anna alongside, then pointed at the bed. Anna gasped.

A woman, naked save for the bed sheet wrapped around her, sat on the bed. She beamed when she saw Anna, her snowy blonde hair glowing in the moonlight, her piercing blue eyes shining like lanterns in the dark. “Hey sis,” Elsa said.

“Wait-  _ WHAT?! _ ”


	115. Return of the Queen: Elsa - Fulfilled Promises

After a long session of poking, prodding, and interrogating to prove that Elsa was indeed real, she was indeed really Elsa, Anna was indeed awake, Anna was indeed not completely insane from the stress of being Queen, and many, many tearful hugs, as well as sending Ciri running to Anna’s room to get Elsa a nightdress, she finally got down to the question Elsa had known she’d ask.

“How on  _ earth _ are you  _ here _ ? You died! I saw it, I held you, I buried you!”

“Yeah, Ciri told me about that when she filled me in on the basics. Feels a little weird, though-” A thought occurred to Elsa. “Hey, you think there’s a body in the grave?”

“THAT’S what you’re wondering?!”

“I mean…” Ciri said. “... It’s a pretty good question.”

“Oh, for- How are you  _ here _ ?”

“I have no clue.” Anna stared at Elsa. “I mean it. I have no idea. I remember everything about before, I remember fighting, I even remember dying, and the next thing I knew, I was lying on the floor of the hallway, right out there, naked. Thank  _ god _ it was Ciri who found me first,” Elsa finished in a mutter, heat rising in her cheeks.

“And you don’t remember  _ anything _ in between?”

“No,” Elsa lied. She did, but it was still hazy, and she really didn’t want to get into it right now. Not until she was a little more lucid and could be sure of what she thought she remembered.

“I believe I can explain,” a soft voice said. Elsa jumped and looked around to see a young girl standing in the corner, wearing a gray dress and no shoes.

“Mother!” Elsa cried.

“Hello again, child,” Mother said, smiling warmly, then she looked at Anna, who still looked halfway in the midst of a heart attack at Mother’s sudden appearance. “I apologize it took us a while to get her back to you,” she said, then she noticed Ciri. “Child, you may want to do something about that,” she suggested to Elsa, pointing to Ciri. Elsa looked over to see Ciri pressed up against the wall, her eyes wide, staring at Mother. With a jolt, Elsa remembered that Ciri had never seen Mother before, and her sudden appearance would of course be startling.

“Ciri, come here,” Elsa laughed, and Ciri scampered over and cowered into Elsa’s side. “It’s okay. This is Mother, or the Source. I forgot you’d never seen her before.”

“It’s nice to meet you, ma’am,” Ciri squeaked, and Mother smiled.

“It’s nice to meet you too, child.” She turned back to Elsa and Anna. “I’m sure you have many questions. I will do my best to answer, though first, let me explain just what it was you did when you defeated the Fifth Spirit. The elements had been gifted to Shiva, Ifrit, Valefor, and Titan. The Usurper could not take these elements from them, but he leeched at my power regardless. Through me, he began to pull at the power of the Outside.”

“The Outside?” Anna asked.

“This is not the only Realm, child,” Mother said. “And I am not the only Mother. There are many, each stacked upon the other like floors of a castle. The Outside is a place even I dare not tread, for it is the space between Realms, a space of chaos. While the Realms remain sealed, they are safe from the ravages of the Outside. However, when the Usurper began to breach that barrier, the Outside began to seep into this Realm. If he had not been stopped, the Outside would have consumed this Realm and all the Realms connected to it, until no life or order remained.”

Anna looked at Elsa, stunned. “And I thought it was bad before...”

“Indeed,” Mother said, smiling again. “Thanks to your actions, your sacrifices, your struggles, that calamity was avoided. I know that it cannot make up for  _ all _ you’ve endured, but please think of this as some small payment.” Anna took Elsa’s hand, smiling, but there was something else there, too. She was troubled. “You may speak your mind, child,” Mother prompted gently.

“Um… It’s not that I’m not grateful to have Elsa back, I really am, but… she’s not the only one who… sacrificed themselves.” Anna swallowed. “Can’t you bring them back too?”

Mother sighed. “I cannot. I can help in the process, but to return a soul to life, to its body, is a magic that is beyond even mine.”

Anna frowned. “Then how…”

“Can you not think of a magic capable of returning one to life from beyond the veil of death?”

Elsa got it. She gasped, looking at Anna with tears in her eyes. “You saved me!” Elsa choked out, her emotions a raging storm inside her.

“H-huh?” Anna stammered out, looking lost.

“Yes, she did,” Mother said softly. “It would have been for naught… if not for her love for you. A love that transcends all others. I’ve never seen its equal. It formed the bridge I was able to use to return you here.”

“Don’t you get it?” Elsa said, starting to cry in earnest now, overwhelmed by Anna’s loyalty and devotion. “Remember the fjord? You  _ died _ , but you came back- because of your love for me. And now… you brought me back the same way!”

“I did?” Anna whispered, her eyes dazed and full of shock.

Elsa was pretty sure she could see the exact moment that it sunk in for Anna. It started with a hand tremble, followed by a lip quiver. Tears pooled in her eyes next, then she sniffled, and then- that was the moment. Anna burst into tears of joy, throwing herself into Elsa’s arms with reckless, childlike abandon, and Elsa held her, tears pouring from her own eyes, as she relished the embrace she thought she’d never get to enjoy again. “Thank you so much,” Elsa sobbed. Next to them, Ciri had slid back to give them space, a radiant smile on her face and tears on her cheeks. Mother waited patiently as the sisters celebrated their reunion, but eventually, the tears ebbed and stopped, though her heart was still full to bursting.

Anna moved around to sit next to Elsa, her arm around Elsa’s waist, and Elsa put hers around Anna’s shoulders, then pulled Ciri close to her other side.

“I must go soon,” Mother said. “But first, I have one more gift, should you choose to accept it.”

“What is it, Mother?” Elsa asked.

“I’m afraid you four managed to worm your way into the hearts of my children. They wish to return to you, should you accept them.”

“You mean the Spirits?” Anna asked, sitting up a bit more and wiping her eyes, sniffing. “Wait- we’d get our powers back?”

“If you accept, yes.”

“Fine with me!” Anna said happily, not noticing the distress on Elsa’s face. “I kind of missed Ifrit. Felt like something was missing in my head. Heins and Kristoff will be in too, I guarantee it, the amount of times they’ve mentioned missing you guys… What about you, Elsa? Wait, Elsa? You okay?”

Elsa looked down at her hands. “My whole life,” she whispered. “I wished I’d never had these powers. They were a curse. They almost killed you. They trapped me in my room for thirteen years, and in my fear for longer than that. Can I really take them back?”

“Do it,” Anna said at once. Both Elsa and Ciri looked at her, surprised at the emphaticness of her command. “Elsa, listen to me,” she said, sliding off the bed and kneeling in front of Elsa, taking both her hands. “The power was never a curse. It was a gift.  _ You _ are a gift. Take them back. Help me rebuild this world with them. Grow them. Be all you can be.”

Elsa stared into her sister’s eyes. She saw nothing but love and faith there. “Okay,” Elsa whispered. “Okay,” she said louder, addressing Mother.

Her face broke into a wide grin. “My children will be quite pleased,” she said, then her face fell. “I must go now. I-”

“Wait!” Elsa blurted out. Inspiration had struck. “Can you give her a share of my power?” she asked, pointing at Ciri.

“Wait,  _ what!? _ ” Ciri exclaimed.

“I cannot,” Mother said. “Shiva can dwell within you, and only you. But there may be something I can do. Do you wish it, child?”

“Uh- I- um- If-” Ciri stammered, looking overwhelmed with this possibility.

“I need an answer, child,” Mother urged. She was beginning to fade as whatever magic was projecting her here started to diminish.

“Will I still be able to have kids if I want?” Ciri asked very quickly.

“Yes, this won’t be a Spirit’s doing. Your body will be unaffected.”

“Then yes!” Ciri cried.

“Very well. It is done. Farewell, my children. I shall see you when you leave this world…” With that, Mother faded from view.

“What was  _ that? _ ” Anna yelped, her face shining with excitement. “Do you have magic now, Ciri?”

“I have no idea!” Ciri wailed, wringing her hands. “Why did you  _ do _ that, Elsa?”

“Are you upset?” Elsa asked nervously. She’d acted on impulse, there was no time to consider all the factors.

“Well, no, but- oh my  _ god _ , why did I say yes?!”

“You two are unbelievable,” Anna sighed. “Two peas in a big old dummy pod.” She jabbed a finger at Elsa. “SHE asked because you’re her daughter and she wanted to have this to connect you- note she asked if she could SHARE her power.” She jabbed her finger at Ciri this time. “And YOU said yes because you knew that already, and even if you didn’t, why on earth would you not want magic? This really is not that complicated!”

Elsa and Ciri were both silent, blushing furiously. Everything Anna had said was true, but to have it said so bluntly like that… Anna was sitting back, her arms crossed, a smug grin on her face. “Am I right, or am I right?”

“You’re right,” Elsa muttered. “You’re a bad winner.”

“Yeah, I know,” Anna said, beaming at them. “Do you have yours back yet?” Elsa reached for the power, but found that it was still missing.

“Not yet.”

Anna twisted her mouth to the side, frowning. “Aw man, me either. I wonder when they’ll come back...”

“Me too,” Elsa said. “On another note, it’s not that I don’t have two of my favorite people right here with me, but I think there’s a few missing. I’ve been meaning to ask- how’s Heins?”

“He’s fine,” Anna said. “I think he’s in the city with his new wife or something.” It took a fraction of a second for this to sink in, then-

“He’s  _ WHAT!? _ ” Elsa exploded. “It’s only been  _ six months! _ He’s already-”

Ciri gasped. “ _ Anna! _ ” she cried scandalously, bursting into laughter.

Elsa looked back and forth between Ciri, who was shrieking with gales of laughter, and Anna, who was looking back with a shifty grin. “Sorry, couldn’t resist.”

“Dammit Anna!” Elsa laughed, unable to help herself. “You bring me back to life then try to kill me with a heart attack!”

“Sorry,” Anna said again, laughing herself. “But seriously… He’s okay… ish. It’s obvious to everyone how much he misses you, and he’s been struggling a bit, but he’s been working really hard to keep moving. I’m… really proud of him, actually.” Elsa’s eyes stung, and she wiped away a tear.

“Where is he?”

_ Tap, tap, taptap, tap _ . As Anna knocked on Heins’s door, or rather, the door to the guest room Heins had been sleeping in, Elsa was transported back in time twenty-two years, when she was eight years old, and Anna knocked on her door in precisely that same pattern.  _ “Elsa?” Tap, tap, taptap, tap. “Do you wanna build a snowman?”  _ How she wished she had given a different answer then.

“Whozit?” Heins’s groggy voice floated through the door.

“Sorry to wake you, Heins,” Anna called. “There’s someone here to see you.”

“It’s  _ midnight _ , tell ‘em to come back tomorrow!”

Elsa stifled a laugh, and Ciri smirked as Anna looked back at Elsa. “Uhh… pretty sure you’re gonna wanna see them tonight, Heins.”

“Oh, for…” Heins grumbled, and they could hear him fussing about inside the room, so Anna and Ciri took a step back so that Elsa would be the first thing he saw, then the door flung open. “Who the hell is-” He choked on his words mid-sentence. His jaw dropped. It was almost comical, the way he was staring at Elsa like he’d seen a ghost- which he had. He looked from Elsa, nervously waving at him and grinning, to Anna, who was beaming, to Elsa, to Ciri, who was raising her eyebrows, waiting for something to happen, to Elsa. 

“Hey Heins,” Elsa said. “I’m back.” Without warning, Heins ran forward, sweeping Elsa up in his arms and spinning her around. Elsa felt her feet lift and squealed in giddy delight, wrapping her legs around his middle, and then he was kissing her, and it was just like she’d remembered, what she’d spent those nebulous six months thinking about, those six months that felt simultaneously like decades and seconds. There was still more to tell about those six months, but for now, Elsa’s heart felt full to bursting. She was back. She was in the arms of the man she loved. She had her sister back. She had Ciri back. The only one missing was Kristoff, but she’d see him again soon enough.

“Jeez guys, get a room,” Anna groaned, and Heins and Elsa broke apart, flushed, breathing hard, and grinning sheepishly. Heins set Elsa down, then stepped back, his hands on her shoulders, looking up and down at her.

“How…?”

Elsa began to explain, but Anna shushed her. “Don’t yet, let’s find Kristoff. You can tell them both that way. Besides, he’ll want to see you too.” Heins groaned, but Anna shushed him again. The four of them set off down the hall, Elsa wishing she had just one hand more to hold all three of the others, settling for holding Anna’s and Ciri’s in her left, and Heins’s in her right. Ciri and Heins kept exchanging disbelieving glances, smiling and shaking their heads.

“What’s going on with you two?” Elsa asked them. They just exchanged another grin.

“Tell you later,” Heins said, kissing the back of Elsa’s hand and smiling.

To Elsa’s surprise, they did not head towards the King and Queen’s chambers, but rather towards the bedroom Anna had used before. When Elsa questioned her on this, she blushed and shrugged. “That’s your room,” she said, and refused to elaborate further. Elsa smiled. She had never before so acutely felt the true magnitude of how much Anna loved her. Even six months after she was gone, adjusting to her absence, taking over her Queenly duties, Anna never forgot about her. She still left a space for Elsa.

When they got to the room, there was no gentle tapping this time. Anna pounded on the door with her fist. “Kristoff!” she shouted. “Put some clothes on, we’ve got guests!”

“Are you  _ kidding me _ , Anna,” they heard Kristoff complain. “I’m already dressed, whatever, just bring them in.” Anna opened the door and strode in, followed by Ciri, Heins, then Elsa. Kristoff sat in an armchair near the window, rubbing his eyes. A book sat open on the table next to him, alongside a lantern. He looked up at them as they entered. “Hey Anna, Ciri, Heins. Oh, hey Els. You look different. Did you get a haircut?” Elsa, Anna, Heins, and Ciri looked back and forth at each other, dumbfounded, as Kristoff frowned at Anna. “Thought you said we had guests?”

“Yeah, Anna,” Elsa said. “Where are the guests?” Anna gaped at her, her mouth working soundlessly, at a loss for what to say.

“.... Wait, WHAT!?” Anna, Ciri, and Heins burst out laughing as Kristoff shot out of the chair and swept Elsa up in his arms, hugging her tightly before letting go and stepping back, staring at her. “How?”

Elsa smiled, opening her mouth to begin to explain, but then frowned as her stomach let out a loud rumble.

“Nope,” Anna announced, holding up her hands. “That damn near shook the castle down. Food first.”

“I’m fine, Anna,” Elsa said, but her stomach betrayed her, rumbling again.

“Uh huh.” Anna deadpanned. “Come on.” She seized Elsa’s hand and dragged her out of the room towards the kitchens.

“What do you want, Elsa?” Ciri asked, jogging to catch up, as the men lagged behind.

“Whatever’s there, I’m sure the chef has gone home,” Elsa said, but Ciri shook her head, beaming, slipping her hand into Elsa’s.

“Whatever you want. I’ll make it!”

“Oh yeah, Elsa, Ciri’s been learning how to cook! She’s getting really good at it too.”

“Really?” Elsa asked, beaming at her.

“I’m alright,” Ciri said modestly. “It helped to take my mind off of things.” Without letting go of Ciri’s hand, Elsa lifted her arm and put it around Ciri, so that their hands were clasped over her chest, then kissed the top of her head.

“Sorry I broke my promise,” Elsa whispered.

“Saving the world is a pretty good reason, though,” Ciri said, wiping her eyes and smiling up at her. “And you’re back now.”

“That I am,” Elsa said, squeezing Ciri.

“So what do you want?” 

“Surprise me.”

“Really?” Ciri said, looking unsure. “That’s a lot of pressure…”

“You’ll be fine, Ciri,” Anna giggled. “Just dip it in chocolate and Elsa’ll love it.”

“This coming from you!” Elsa laughed, then heard a strangled sort of choke coming from behind her. Elsa, Anna, and Ciri turned to see Kristoff and Heins pretending not to cry, wiping their eyes and smiling ear to ear.

* * *

“Bon appétit!” Ciri said twenty minutes later, sliding a plate across the counter in front of Elsa, where she sat on a stool in the kitchen. 

“Oh my god,” Anna breathed, reaching for the plate, but Ciri slapped the back of her hand and she pulled back, looking scandalized. “Ciri!”

“No!” she scolded, wagging a finger in Anna’s face while Heins and Kristoff roared with laughter. “This is for Elsa.”

What was for Elsa was a stack of fluffy golden pancakes, ringed with sliced strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries, with a dollop of whipped cream in the middle. Two small cups were set on the side, one containing cinnamon maple syrup, the other a warm chocolate sauce.

“Ciri, I don’t know what to even say,” Elsa said, staring down at the plate. “It looks amazing, and-” she leaned forward and breathed deeply- “it smells even better.”

“Wait till you taste it,” Ciri said, grinning and handing Elsa a fork. “This is about the only thing I can make that’s this good.” Elsa poured the chocolate and syrup over the top, then cut herself off a piece, making sure to get each fruit on her fork, along with a hefty amount of the chocolate sauce (it  _ was _ chocolate, after all). It was a much bigger bite than she would ordinarily take, but she was insistent on getting all the flavors in that one first bite. As her lips closed over the fork, she closed her eyes and let out an involuntary moan.

“Oh my god,” she breathed. It was perhaps the most delicious thing she’d ever put in her mouth. The pancakes had been cooked to perfection, the fruit was fresh and juicy, and the cinnamon, syrup, and chocolate mixed together in a symphony of flavor that was beyond description. She swallowed, then pushed the plate towards Anna. “ _ Now _ you can have a bite,” she said.

“Can I?” Anna asked, but she wasn’t looking at Elsa, she was looking at Ciri.

Ciri turned up her nose in exaggerated indifference. “I suppose so,” she said haughtily. As Anna took a bite, her eyes widened. Elsa tugged the plate back, fearing that if she did not, she would never see the pancakes again, and she was still famished.

“Mmm! Thaf’s fo good!” she said, her cheeks stuffed with pancake.

“I’m glad you guys like it,” Ciri said, flushed with pride. “Do you want me to make you your own?”

“No, I shouldn’t really, thank you though,” Anna said, then, raising her voice, called, “Sorry, Kristoff, I don’t love you anymore. These pancakes have stolen my heart.”

“That’s fine, Anna,” Kristoff said from his spot leaning against the wall, yawning. “I hope we can stay friends. Hurry up and eat so Elsa can tell us how the hell she’s here and I can go to bed.”

“On it!” Elsa said, or rather, tried to. It was tough to talk around a mouthful of pancake and chocolate. 

“Do you want something, Kristoff?” Ciri offered.

“No thanks, Ciri.”

“What about you, Dad?” she asked, turning to Heins, and Elsa froze, her fork halfway to her open mouth. Beside her, Anna was glancing between them, her eyes as big around as the pancakes.

“No, I’m alright, thanks sweetheart,” Heins replied casually, as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. “Elsa, you okay?” he asked, looking back at her, frowning with concern. She was still frozen.

She slowly lowered her fork. “Did Ciri just… call you Dad?”

She addressed this to Heins, but Ciri answered. “I sure did… Mom.”

A very warm, very pleasant feeling lit up in Elsa’s heart, spreading outward through her whole body in an instant, and she burst into tears. “Oh crap,” she heard Ciri say as footsteps pattered around the counter towards her, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-” Her words were cut off by Elsa leaping off her stool and crashing into Ciri, wrapping her in a hug as she sobbed into her shoulder. It was an extreme reaction, Elsa knew, but what Ciri didn’t know yet was that Elsa had spent the last six months wondering if she’d ever have gotten to hear the girl she loved like a daughter call her mom, even once.

Once she finally got a hold of herself, and with Ciri looking awkward but very happy (an expression mirrored on the faces of everyone present), it didn’t take long to polish off the pancakes. Elsa finished the last bite with a groan, then slumped back, feeling like she’d just gained a hundred pounds in one meal, but it was too damn delicious to stop. She was filled with joy, and a sense of peace and calm overcame her. Against all odds, she was back, and those she loved were around her.

“Alright,” Elsa said, as the others arranged some seats in a loose circle so that they all faced each other. “Here’s what happened…” She summarized what Mother had told them, and Heins and Kristoff both hugged Anna tightly when her role in the resurrection was revealed. Neither of them had gained their powers back yet either- though both were thrilled to reunite with their Spirits. 

“So that’s how I’m back- or at least, the closest to an explanation we’re gonna get. Now…” Elsa said, leaning forward. “What I haven’t said yet is what happened  _ over _ those six months.”

“You said you didn’t remember...” Anna said, sounding hurt.

“I’m sorry, Anna. I was trying to sort out whether or not I DID remember, or if I was just making it up. I wanted to be sure, that’s all.” Anna nodded, understanding, but still looking slightly upset. Elsa would talk to her more about it later, but for now, she looked at Kristoff. “Your mother wasn’t far off, you know.” She took a deep breath. “It was like… a dream. Time flowed strangely. I could go anywhere, but… nowhere, at the same time. I can’t describe it well. But, I do remember certain things. Mainly… people. People we’ve lost.”

“What?” Anna breathed. “Who?”

“Well, the Queensguard, for starters- some of them, anyway. It’s not like the others weren’t there somewhere, but… it’s hard to describe. Think of it like you’re walking through a crowd blindfolded, but you know where someone was five minutes ago. You can make your way  _ towards _ them, but  _ finding _ them? It’s mostly luck. Even then, we didn’t  _ talk _ , exactly, it was more… an exchange of memories, or ideas, or feelings…” Elsa shook her head. The strange nature of communication there was nearly impossible for  _ her _ to wrap her head around, much less describe to someone else. “The biggest thing I got was that they were… at peace. I felt nothing of anger, or bitterness.”

“That’s a relief,” Anna sighed, wiping her eyes.

“Over time, I started to watch over you all. I couldn’t  _ see _ you,” she clarified quickly, as Anna and Kristoff both turned bright red. They let out tiny sighs of relief as Elsa continued. “I could just… get a sense of you. Of your feelings, of how you were doing. But I wasn’t the only one who cared for you. I met some other people hovering around, too. Not everyone who was with you, but some of them. Like… your mother, Ciri.”

“What?” Ciri gasped, staring wide eyed at Elsa. 

Elsa nodded, taking Ciri’s hands. “She looked just like you…. She wishes she could have been with you, and she’s so sorry she couldn’t be. She loves you, so much. But she’s happy you have a family again, a place to belong.”

“My mother…” Ciri whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Elsa turned to Kristoff. “Lilly says hi.”

Kristoff dropped his gaze. “Lil- she…” His voice broke, and he looked up at Elsa, tears in his eyes too.

“She’s so happy you made it out of that horrible place. She’s so happy you found a way to let love into your heart again. She loves you even more now than she did then, and she’s very proud of the man you’ve become. She approves of you, by the way,” Elsa said, turning her gaze to Anna. ”She wishes you could have been friends.”

Kristoff broke down in tears, and Anna went to him, wrapping her arms around him and holding him, stroking his hair. Elsa turned towards Heins.

“I saw someone for you too,” she said. “Your father.”

“You… saw Dad?”

“Yes. He’s so, so proud of you. Even when everything else was lost, when your family had gone astray, you never stopped fighting for what was right. You are a good man, Heins.”

Heins blinked quickly and looked down at the floor. Elsa turned back to Anna. “It was never you they worried about, Anna,” she whispered.

“What do you mean?” she asked, now sitting sideways on Kristoff’s lap, who had caught his breath and was looking at Elsa again, his eyes red but no longer crying.

“Mother and Father. You were never the reason they kept us apart.”

“Elsa…?”

“They were afraid of how  _ I’d _ react. It was never about not trusting you. They knew how much you loved me, and how happy you made me, and they were afraid I’d lose control. It tore at them to keep you in the dark, and… they’re so sorry that they did. No one could have imagined how truly wonderful you’d become, and they are so proud. And I am too.”

Anna looked at the floor, while Elsa waited with bated breath for her reaction. Had she upset Anna somehow? She wasn’t sure how she could’ve, but it wouldn’t be Elsa’s first time saying something stupid and hurting Anna’s feelings without realizing it. Slowly, she got up from Kristoff’s lap, and crossed to Elsa, her eyes still on the ground. Elsa stood up as she approached, and Anna raised her arms. Elsa embraced her as warmly and tenderly as she could, and then Anna began to cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you get why it's called "Return of the Queen" now? Double meaning, yay
> 
> Random thoughts: Elsa casually wondering if there's a body in the grave is basically what I'd be wondering too
> 
> I want pancakes
> 
> Kristoff is canonically a little slow on the uptake, so you know I had to do it to him
> 
> Elsa "meeting" Ciri's mom and getting tacit approval to raise Ciri I thought was really nice
> 
> There's a reason I gave Ciri ice powers
> 
> The Outside and the Realms are a combination of the mythos of Norse mythology and Stephen King. The Realms being stacked on top of one another is Norse-inspired, but the idea that the Outside is full of chaos and death is inspired by King's multiverse. If you're unfamiliar with King, the simple version is that all of his stories take place in a multiverse connected by the Dark Tower. Things like It/Pennywise come from the space between those universes.


	116. Return of the Queen: Anna - New Old Queen

The day after Elsa’s return, all of Arendelle had heard the tale of her resurrection and Anna’s role in it, courtesy once again of the Gareth Express. Within a few days, people were clamoring for her to take the throne again- and those were the more reasonable ones. Elsa had saved the whole of the world. Thousands of people now revered her as a sort of deity, a concept that was only strengthened by her miraculous return to life. Even Anna, who had long thought the world of Elsa, was a little unnerved by the fanatical devotion she had unintentionally inspired. 

If Anna was unnerved, Elsa was downright disturbed. She protested her status as demigod everywhere she went, but people did not want to hear it, using it as further evidence by pointing to the humility it implied.

All that being said, Anna could not deny that she too wished Elsa would retake the throne. Elsa had settled into the role in a way that Anna couldn’t fathom, even with her more realistic view of her sister rather than the pedestal she’d been on for most of Anna’s life. Anna was no good at big-picture stuff, she’d much rather be down amongst the people, helping individuals where she could, which often inspired those she helped to help others in turn. She could do a lot of good that way. On the other hand, Elsa was a planner, an organizer, not as good at the moment to moment minutia of interacting with the populace as she was at guiding them with a gentle hand towards a brighter future. As it was, the sister’s roles were reversed, to what Anna considered the kingdom’s detriment. Even then, she couldn’t bring herself to ask for Elsa to take the throne. She had worn the crown during the worst period in Arendelle’s history. What kind of terrible person would ask her to wear it again?

As it turned out, Elsa had been harboring similar thoughts. Both Elsa and Anna had confided in Ciri their concerns, Anna that she did not want to burden Elsa, and Elsa that she did not want to insult Anna by in any way implying Anna couldn’t handle it. Ciri had tricked the two of them into a storeroom by claiming to need help reaching something, then closed and barred the door behind them, refusing to let them out until they had discussed it. After some futile pounding on the door, they had the conversation. It took almost no time at all to agree that Elsa would become Queen again, and both left the storeroom feeling very stupid that they hadn’t just brought it up a while ago. The smugness on Ciri’s face as they left was something to behold, though.

There was no precedent for such an odd change in monarch. Oddly enough, never before had a Queen died, passing the throne to her husband, who abdicated to the Queen’s sister, and then the Queen came back to life, and the new Queen abdicated back to her. “Crazy how that’s never come up before, huh?” Anna asked Elsa as they pored over legal documents, trying to find the right procedure to follow. Eventually, they succeeded, and after a roundabout abdication that involved an empty throne and a few token elections for a short period of time, Elsa was once again Queen of Arendelle, King Heins at her side, while Anna returned to being a Princess and Kristoff a Prince, one month after Elsa’s return. They had not received the Spirits yet, though they would very soon.


	117. Return of the Queen: Elsa - Reuniting the Four

“Alright Els, you’re up,” Kristoff said, flopping back onto the couch, where Anna snuggled up to him, still laughing. He’d just finished his round of charades, where he had to act out the word _puppy_ , to predictably hilarious and adorable results. With growing trepidation, Elsa got to her feet. She hated this part. She loved charades, and was alright at guessing, but she was _terrible_ at the acting part. She snatched the first paper she saw and looked at the word within. _Ice._ _This should be a cinch! … Emphasis on “should”._

“Ready?” Ciri asked, one hand on the hourglass and the other clutching the bell they used to signal the end of the rounds. Elsa nodded, and Ciri flipped the hourglass.

_ Okay. Ice. You can do this. _ She thrust out both hands, imagining sending her blasts of magic out, as she had so often done. “Push!” Anna guessed. “Shove! Shovelboy! Wait, what? Uhh…”

This wasn’t working. Elsa stood back up straight, twirling her wrists, imagining the more delicate artistry she used to create, like when she built Olaf. “Write! Letter!”

“Oh, drawing!” cried Ciri.

_ Ugh, not even close. Okay… _ She stamped her foot, like she would when she would create ice rinks for them to skate on. “There’s no need to get so mad, Elsa, we’re doing our best,” Heins said, frowning.  _ Wait, what? _ She shook her head impatiently, and stamped her foot again-

“Oh shit!” she blurted out, as her foot shot out from underneath her, sending her toppling over, landing hard on her back and knocking the wind out of her. She heard the others cry out in alarm and rush to her side as she rolled over, gasping for breath.

“Elsa, you okay?” Anna asked, bending down over her.

“Did you hit your head?” 

“Nice one, Els.”

“Kristoff!”

“What? It looked funny.”

“I’m okay,” Elsa gasped, struggling to pull air into her lungs. She caught Heins’s eye, and he grabbed her hand and helped her sit up. “What did I- oh!” A smooth layer of ice covered a large chunk of the lounge floor. She looked down at her hands, starting to catch her breath. She dove into her mind, searching for that bright light, and, to her great delight, found it.  _ Hi Shiva _ , Elsa thought, and a pleased, satisfied feeling spread over Elsa from that spot. She looked up. “Do you all...”

“Yeah,” Kristoff said, grinning. “I can feel it.”

“Me too.”

“Me too.”

“What about you, Ciri?”

“How am I supposed to know?” she asked, throwing up her hands and laughing. For the next hour, all thought of charades gone, they tried to help Ciri discover her powers, if she had any, but by the time Anna was half-asleep standing up, they hadn’t made any progress. Kristoff eventually just picked her up and carted her off to bed, telling Ciri he’d help again tomorrow if she wanted it. Heins was looking half dead as well, and asked Elsa if she wanted to call it a night.

“You go on ahead, Heins,” Elsa murmured, as Ciri finished picking up the rest of the paper slips, which had been spilled over the floor when Elsa fell over. “I’ll be there soon.” He gave her a confused look, but she just shook her head. He shrugged, kissed her, then left.

“Hey Ciri?” Elsa said, moving over to the couch.

“Hmm?” Ciri said, turning around with the basket of slips in her hand.

“Come sit with me a few,” Elsa said, sitting down and patting the couch next to her. Ciri smiled and came over, flopping down next to Elsa. She cuddled up to her side and rested her head on Elsa’s shoulder, and Elsa put an arm around her. Elsa lifted her other hand and began playing with her magic, relishing in the familiarity of it, rejoicing at the reunion of herself and Shiva, making the prettiest, most hypnotic swirls she could.

“That’s so beautiful,” Ciri whispered. Elsa smiled.

“I’m glad you think so. Don’t give up yet, sweetheart.”

“I’m not, I just wish I knew whether or not I even  _ had _ anything.”

“Hmm… Lay down, I have an idea.” Elsa stood up, letting Ciri lay down on her back across the couch.

“Like this?” she asked.

“Yeah. Now… close your eyes, and don’t move, okay?”

“Okay.” Ciri’s eyes closed, and Elsa felt a small rush of affection for her at how much Ciri trusted her. Not so much as a “Why?”

Elsa looked down at her hand. Would this work, like it did before? Or was that a Spirit-exclusive thing? Only one way to find out. She reached out and placed her palm on Ciri’s forehead, closing her eyes and reaching out with her magic. At first, she didn’t sense Ciri the way she had sensed Anna and the others, but then, there was a small ripple, near the edge of her thoughts. She pushed towards it, feeling out its edges. It felt like Ciri’s mind, as Anna’s had felt like Anna, but there was something missing from it. Anna’s mind had been full of light and energy, but Ciri’s was dark, and after a moment, she realized it was because Ciri did not have a Spirit. But she did have something… There was something there, something in the dark, a tiny sparkle, hardly more than a glimmer.. She reached out for it, and as her magic made contact, it flared into a bright light, filling Ciri’s mind, and Ciri- the real Ciri, gasped, trying to sit up, almost throwing Elsa’s hand off.

“Ah! What is that?” she asked, sounding panicked.

“It’s okay,” Elsa said quickly, pressing Ciri down into the couch. She was afraid to break contact that abruptly, she didn’t know what would happen. “Stay still, it’s okay, trust me.”

“Okay… I do…” Ciri said, panting.

“I’m going to do it again, okay? Brace yourself.”

“I’m ready.”

Elsa reached out again, prodding the glimmer, which had dimmed once more. Ciri gasped again as Elsa made contact, but this time, she stayed still, and Elsa widened the connection, pushing more of her magic into the spot. The glimmer grew brighter and brighter, flooding Ciri’s mind, bathing her whole being in clear white light. After a moment, Elsa felt resistance, a sort of pressure, and she realized she was in danger of filling the glimmer too much. She had no idea what that might do, and she had no interest whatsoever in finding out. She withdrew the connection, retreating out of Ciri’s mind, but the glimmer did not dim, it stayed bright, and Ciri’s mind now shone like Anna’s had- dimmer, though not by much.

“Ciri?” Elsa asked, opening her eyes and pulling her hand back, fighting to keep her eyes open as an intense wave of exhaustion crashed over her. That had been far too foolish, and Ciri was frowning, seeming to be in pain. “Ciri!?”

“I’m okay…” she muttered, pressing the heels of her hands against her forehead. “I think. My head… It feels… full.”

“Yeah… I think that was me,” Elsa said, guilt gnawing at her stomach. What had she been thinking? That was reckless, stupidly reckless. “Here, sit up.” She took hold of Ciri’s elbow and helped sit her up on the couch. “Look at me.” Ciri’s eyes opened, and Elsa peered into them. Her green eyes didn’t seem any different than before.

“What did you do?” Ciri mumbled, her brow still creased.

“I sort of… went inside your head. There was something there-”

“You read my mind?” Ciri burst out, her eyes flying open in alarm. “Because I swear, Mom, Anna put me up to it-”

“I didn’t read your mind, Ciri, I- wait,  _ what?  _ What did Anna put you up to?”

Ciri dropped her gaze, not moving. “Nothing,” she mumbled. Elsa wrote a mental note to herself:  _ Interrogate Anna at earliest opportunity. Trust nothing until then. _

“It doesn’t matter right now,” Elsa said. “It was the same thing I did when the other Spirits joined me. I can sort of… sense people. I never knew I could, and I don’t think it would work on just anyone. When I reached out for Anna and the others, they may as well have had a fifty-foot bonfire announcing their location, but when I just reached out for you, I couldn’t find you at first. Your mind was so much darker than theirs, if that makes sense.” Ciri looked like she was struggling with whether or not to take offense to that. “The only reason I found you at all was because there was  _ something _ there, like a speck of light. I made it brighter. A  _ lot _ brighter.”

“How?” she asked. Elsa snorted, cocking an eyebrow at Ciri. “Oh, yeah, you probably have no idea either, do you. Well, should I give it another try?”

“Yeah, might as well, if you’re feeling up to it. How’s your head?”

“It’s okay. The headache’s gone down.” 

Elsa nodded, relieved. “Alright. Stand up, face me. Now, hold out your hand- no, palm up- there you go. Close your eyes. Imagine you’re outside, in the winter. There’s a blanket of fresh snow on the ground, and you can see the branches of the trees are frozen, encased in ice. I’m there with you, okay? And I hit you with a snowball. What do you do?”

“I throw one back, duh,” Ciri said.

“So do it. Imagine scooping snow up into your hands. Feel the cold, the texture, the weight. Hear the crunch as you pack it together. Feel how it gets harder as the outer layer melts and refreezes, compressing.” Ciri’s brow creased.

“I feel something…” she muttered.

“Have you got your snowball yet?” Elsa asked, staring down at the snowball in Ciri’s hand.

“I don’t know… feels weird.”

“Open your eyes, Ciri.”

Ciri’s eyes fluttered open, and she saw the handful of snow she had conjured. “AH!” she yelped, yanking her hand back as though burned, and the snow plopped to the ground. Ciri stared at her hand, her mouth hanging open. “Why wasn’t that colder?!”

Elsa beamed, so wide it started to hurt her cheeks, but she didn’t care. “Because you have my power, Ciri.”

“I have the same power as you…” Ciri breathed. A grin spread across her face as her eyes brightened. “I have the same power as you!” she squealed, leaping into Elsa’s arms, and Elsa clutched her close, laughing and crying, an exhilarating feeling pumping through her body. 

“I love you, Ciri,” Elsa breathed.

“I love you too!” They held each other tightly for a moment, but as they broke apart, Elsa failed to stifle a yawn. “Okay, bedtime,” Ciri said, concern shoving the jubilation on her face aside as she put her hands on her hips. “Off you get.”

“Who’s the adult here?” Elsa asked, laughing.

“You, but you see, the thing is, I don’t care. March. Straight to bed. I can see how much that took out of you.”

“Yes ma’am,” Elsa muttered, though she didn’t leave yet. “I’m not stupid enough to tell you not to experiment here, Ciri, because I know how much good it would do-”

“Precisely none,” Ciri confirmed.

“Anywaaay,” Elsa continued, glaring at Ciri, who gave her a cheeky grin in response, “if something goes wrong, or you feel like you’re not in control, or if you get really tired really quickly, I want you to  _ swear _ to me you’ll stop and find me.”

“I swear,” Ciri said, and her tone was quite serious. “I won’t practice anywhere near anything breakable, or near people, unless it’s you, obviously.”

“Good girl- oh, sorry,” Elsa said quickly. “I didn’t mean to bring up-”

“It’s okay,” Ciri shrugged. “I’m pretty okay now. It was really…  _ really _ tough, those first few weeks without you. Anna let me stay with her while Dad was in the Southern Isles dealing with all that, but… I love Anna to death, but she’s not as… calming, as you are.”

“I know what you mean,” Elsa said, dropping her gaze as her eyes stung. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here to-”

Ciri snorted. “Come on, Mom. I already told you- you had the whole  _ world _ to worry about. I don’t matter in comparison to that.”

“That’s not true,” Elsa whispered. “You matter to me.”

“I know I do. But if you’d chosen not to do what you did, first, we’d all be dead, second, I would have smacked you so damn hard  _ Shiva _ would have felt it.”

“Ciri!” Elsa cried, shocked.

“Mom, I know who you are. You’d never-  _ ever _ \- choose your own happiness over the world’s suffering. It’s why I love you. So stop apologizing for it, got it?”

Elsa was silent for a while, while Ciri looked at her, as though daring her to challenge what Ciri had said. “You’re a very strong person. You never cease to surprise me, Ciri,” Elsa said after a long pause. 

“It shouldn’t surprise you. I learned it from you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a shorter update today, but the next one is a bit longer, and it's also the last one. See you Saturday for the conclusion to the Darkness Among Us trilogy.


	118. After the Restoration: Ciri - Eleven Months After

Ciri stared at herself in the mirror. Was she really doing this? Was she really going through with it? Today was the day her life changed. Today, she officially joined Elsa’s family, and with it… the Arendelle royal family. 

...

Was she insane?!

“Breathe, Ciri, breathe,” she whispered to herself, gripping onto the edge of the vanity table so hard she was afraid she just might crack the wood. She stared into her own eyes, trying to psyche herself up, but the visage that stared back seemed like a stranger. The girl in the mirror had her hair pulled back in an elegant spiral bun. Her face was clean and smooth save for the thin scar that ran down the right side of her face, and her makeup had been applied with an expert’s soft touch (very definitely not her own). Rather than the simple shirt and pants she normally wore, or maybe a skirt if she felt especially daring that day, now she wore a gorgeous blue dress that was worth more than everything in her old house, plus her old house itself, put together. She had picked it out herself, so why did it feel so unnatural? 

It’s not that she didn’t like to look nice on occasion- she’d enjoyed more than one day where she had to get all dressed up for some visitors or delegation. But on those days, she was just Ciri, the homeless orphan sob story that the Queen pitied too much to kick out. She knew that’s not how Elsa saw her, of course, but it was how the visitors saw her, and that was just fine with Ciri. It meant she could stay out of their way and get through the day hanging out with Anna in the corner while Elsa dealt with the visiting dignitaries. Why was this so different?

Of course, she knew the reason. She knew full well. After this, she wouldn’t be able to sneak by unnoticed. She wouldn’t be Ciri the orphan girl, she’d be Princess Cirilla of Arendelle.

Nope, nope, nope, nope, no way, nuh-uh, not happening. She glanced over at the window. It was unlocked, and it really wasn’t that far of a drop, only about fifteen feet. She was halfway across the room when there was a knock at the door. “Ciri? Are you ready?” It was Elsa’s voice.

“Uh… coming!” Ciri called, unlatching the window.

“Okay… wait, was that-” The door flew open. “Oh no you don’t!”

“I’m just getting some air!” Ciri cried, swinging a leg over the balcony, but then she felt hands grab her shoulders and haul her back into the room. “What!? I was just getting some air!”

“Ciri, come on,” Elsa panted, dragging her back to the center of the room. “Sit down. Now.” It was more authoritative than Elsa usually spoke, and Ciri obeyed without hesitation, sitting down on the small couch opposite the vanity, while Elsa leaned up against it, looking gorgeous in a dress a few shades darker than Ciri’s. It was more elegant, too, with delicate embroidery across the bodice, and it slipped off her shoulders in a way that Ciri had flat refused in her own dress- if she was going to stand in front of a kingdom, the absolute last thing she would do is risk her dress falling down. Elsa was growing out her hair again, too, and while it hadn’t reached it’s full length, she had started wearing it in the braid Ciri remembered seeing as a little girl.

“Alright, Ciri. Spill.”

“What do you mean?” Ciri asked, playing with one of the folds on the front of her dress, not meeting Elsa’s eyes. Nervousness clawed at her stomach.

“You said, last night, the night before, last week, the week before that, last month, two months ago- on and on and on, that this is what you wanted. So. Tell me what changed.”

“Nothing.”

“So your little excursion just now?”

“Just- just drop it,” Ciri said, feeling like she was being backed into a corner and getting defensive as a result.

“Drop it?” laughed Elsa. “We passed the point of ‘drop it’ around two months ago, when we started sending out invitations for this little shindig. Ciri, look at me.” Ciri did, and her face was full of understanding, but for some reason, that only irritated Ciri further. “Tell me what’s on your mind.”

“Look at me!” Ciri burst out, getting to her feet in her sudden frustration, gesturing to herself. “This isn’t me! This can never  _ be _ me! I can’t  _ do _ this! I don’t belong here! I’m just some girl who was born in some hole in some nowhere town, I can’t be  _ this! _ What was I  _ thinking _ , thinking I could become like you-” She cut herself off quickly and sat down, averting her eyes. She had said too much, and it was too late. Elsa, far from looking upset at Ciri’s outburst, was nodding, a pensieve, faraway look on her face.

“I see…” she said, moving across the room and sitting down next to Ciri, letting out a heavy sigh. She sat in silence for a moment, while Ciri resumed her fidgeting with her dress to try to stave off the nervous feeling in her gut. “Did I ever tell you about my wedding day?” Elsa asked suddenly.

“No…” Where was this going?

“We talked so much about the wedding. I was still really struggling with my… hmm… quirks, so he wanted to make sure it was what I actually wanted. He must have asked me a thousand times if I was sure, he told me that he wouldn’t mind if I changed my mind, he’d still be with me, he understood what I was dealing with and didn’t want to make me unhappy. I’d never wanted anything in my life as much as I wanted to marry that man. And yet…” Elsa sighed.

“The day of the wedding, I panicked. I completely lost my head, when Anna came to get me, I started telling her to cancel it, that I couldn’t go through with it. You see… I felt so… inadequate. I was damaged goods, mentally, emotionally, physically-” she indicated the scars on her back, a large portion of which were prominently displayed by the off-the-shoulder dress’s mid-back cut. She shook her head, laughing. “What good was I to someone like Heins? It all came roaring back when it actually came time to go through with it. I’ve never been able to thank Anna properly for getting my head on straight that day. So… you wanna be like me? You already are.”

“That’s not…”

“I’m as fallible as you are, sweetheart. Perhaps more so. But here’s the thing. You’re like me in a lot of ways already. But to stop there is to  _ severely _ undervalue yourself. It’s not ‘me in another body’ I love, it’s  _ you _ .  _ Your _ personality,  _ your _ mind,  _ your  _ spirit,  _ your _ soul.  _ You _ are my daughter, now and forever so long as you choose it, regardless of whether or not it’s on some silly paper.” Ciri stared down at her lap, overwhelmed. Could Elsa be right? Could she really do this?

“This is what I’m going to do,” Elsa said, taking Ciri’s hand and running a loving thumb along the back of it. “I’m going to go back in that hallway and wait for five minutes. If you decide that this is what you want, then come join me by then. If you decide not to, then I won’t force you. I’d never do that. But either way, I will love you, with all my heart, forever.” She bent forward, kissed Ciri’s forehead, squeezed her hand, then left the room without another word, leaving Ciri alone with her thoughts.

The first thing she thought was whether or not Elsa was lying when she said she’d love her regardless. She dismissed the thought instantly. Of course she wasn’t lying. She really did want Ciri to choose this. And the thing was, Ciri  _ had _ chosen this. Just like Heins had asked Elsa, Elsa had asked her a thousand times, and whenever Ciri thought about it, all she wanted to do was say yes. It wasn’t just that she wanted to be a princess- she’d lost all remaining fairytale delusions about that. She wanted to become  _ Elsa’s _ heir, to have the honor of carrying on the legacy of the bravest, strongest, kindest Queen Arendelle, or perhaps the world, had ever seen. Nothing would make her happier, or prouder. So what was the problem? That she wasn’t “worthy”?  _ Fuck _ that. Elsa herself had chosen Ciri. She could have settled for caring for Ciri, even letting her stay in the castle with her. But she didn’t- she went to the trouble of formally adopting her, and that had been a decision that was disputed among the other nobles of Arendelle. She had created not a small amount of trouble for herself, because  _ she _ believed in Ciri. And god dammit, Ciri was  _ not _ going to make a fool of Elsa by squandering that belief. 

She stood up, her mind made up and her heart set, then marched to the vanity. After a quick check in the mirror to make sure she hadn’t done too much damage to her outfit trying to escape, she crossed to the door and flung it open. Elsa was opposite her, leaning up against the wall. Anna was there too, in a breathtaking scarlet dress that complemented her strawberry hair, looking more mature, a little more formal and put together than Ciri usually saw her. Elsa grinned when she saw Ciri, and Anna groaned. “Um… did I do something wrong?” Ciri asked, frowning.

“Pay up,” Elsa said. Anna rolled her eyes.

“Fiine,” she grumbled, tossing several small wrapped chocolates at Elsa.

“Were you betting on whether I’d come?” Ciri asked, looking incredulously from one sister to the other.

“No, we both knew you would,” Anna said. “She bet you’d come out within a minute, though.”

“Yeah but still!” Ciri cried, starting to laugh.

Anna shrugged. “Don’t hold me responsible for ‘tempted-by-chocolate Anna’, that girl is insane.”

“You were the one that made the bet!” Elsa giggled.

“Nuh uh! You said ‘I bet she comes out within a minute’, and I said ‘I’ll take that bet’-”

“It was a figure of speech! I didn’t mean an  _ actual  _ bet! Hey, Ciri, you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Ciri mumbled, smiling ear to ear, wiping away a tear before it could ruin her makeup. That is  _ not _ how she wanted to introduce herself to the kingdom.

“Hey kiddo, ready to go?” Kristoff and Heins were striding up to where they stood, both looking very handsome indeed in suits that were one hundred percent picked out by their wives. “Nervous?” he asked, grinning and nudging her with his elbow. Ciri nodded. “I get it. You shoulda seen me before my first announcement. ‘Prince Kristoff of Arendelle’...” he shuddered. “God, it  _ still _ sounds so insane.”

“Yeah, but Ciri’s got this,” Heins said, not a shred of doubt or hesitation in his voice. “She’s way more ready than you were then.”

“You weren’t even here yet, how do you know? Wait- Elsa, did you tell him I wasn’t ready?” Elsa shrugged, hitting Kristoff with her best “innocent look”. “Oh please, Elsa, you think I’m not immune to that by now? I’m married to  _ that _ ,” he said, pointing to Anna, whose mouth dropped open.

“Hey!” she cried, whacking his arm and laughing.

“That probably doesn’t even work on Heins anymore,” Kristoff continued.

“No, it does,” Elsa said.

“It totally does,” Heins agreed. Ciri watched all this, trying very,  _ very _ hard not to cry. “But that doesn’t matter now, we’ve gotta go, party starts soon. You ready, sweetheart?”

Ciri nodded, swallowed, looked around at them all. “I really love you guys,” she said, her voice breaking. 

“We love you too, kiddo,” Kristoff said.

“And we’re so proud of you,” Anna added.

Ciri took several deep breaths, fighting back the tears-  _ don’t you cry, Ciri! _ \- then smiled. “Let’s go.” They joined her, hand in hand, Kristoff, Anna, Ciri, Elsa, Heins, and together, with her family, Ciri set off towards her future.


	119. After the Restoration: Heins - Four Years After

The anniversary of the Restoration was always a tough time for Heins. On the one hand, it was a day of celebration, a holiday known as Restoration Day, celebrated by Arendelle and its neighbors, across the entirety of what used to be the Empire. Despite its name, it did not represent solely the destruction of the Empire and the return of the old Kingdoms. The whole of the world had been saved that day. For Heins, however, it also represented the time that he lost almost every familial connection he had left. The last of his remaining brothers were dead, Elsa was dead (at least at the time), Elsie was dead, and the Queensguard was dead. Every Restoration Day, he’d stand up at the head of the festivities with Elsa, Ciri, Anna, and Kristoff, and he’d smile and wave and do all the things he was supposed to do. He’d even have a good time. But the next day was different.

He’d started the tradition on the first Restoration Day. He woke early, before the sun was up, then went and watched the sunrise with the Queensguard. The monuments to both them and Martha were in the Arendelle town square, but that’s not where they were. They were here, in a peaceful grave on a cliffside, overlooking the whole of Arendelle and the fjord beyond, watching over the place they had sacrificed their lives to save, guarding it for all time. It pained Heins that they were not all here. Silas and Elsie were near Ignis’s lab, and Alarik and Liam’s bodies were both presumably in a mass grave somewhere, both having died during the war before the Fall. He hoped that they could feel his company too.

He stayed the entire day with them, talking to them on occasion, crying often, but sitting in quiet contemplation for the majority of his time, as the sun rose, moved across the sky, set. He would not leave until well after nightfall. Elsa had known where he went on those days, but this year was the first year she’d asked to come along. She could have at any time, of course, but Heins got the sense that she wanted him to have time with them on his own, like he had after the Fall, and in fact, while she would join him several more times in the years to come, he made the solitary journey here much more often than not.

As though dead-set on not causing trouble, Elsa woke even earlier than Heins did, and was already dressed and ready to set out by the time he got up. They did not speak during the three mile hike to the spot, communicating everything they needed to by a lingering gaze, a soft touch, a gesture with a waterskin to offer it to the other. Heins could have flown there, even with Elsa, but he made this journey on foot. He would not cheapen it by using magic.

Even after arriving at the spot, marked with a simple stone headstone Heins had carved himself ( _ The Price of Freedom Is Steep _ ), neither of them said anything as they sat on the edge of the cliff, hands entwined together, their feet dangling as they watched the sun rise, setting the fjord aflame with reddish gold light.

“Elsa?” Heins said quietly, still looking out at the sunrise.

“Hmm?”

“What made you want to come this year?”

“I’m sorry, should I not have?”

“No, no, it’s not that at all. I was just curious.”

“I’m not really sure…” Elsa said. “You’ve never really told me what you do up here. I guess… I was just worried about you. I wanted to be here, you know, if you needed me. It can be hard to ask for something like that, so I offered.”

Heins smiled, putting his arm around Elsa, and she sank into him, laying her head on his shoulder, her hand resting on his leg. “It’s not a very fun filled day,” he murmured, kissing the top of her head. “Not like yesterday.”

Elsa giggled. “I can’t believe Anna finished the whole thing.”

“I can. The girl can put away some chocolate, that’s for sure.” They fell into comfortable silence for a while, Elsa’s fingers tracing patterns on his leg while his hand ran up and down her arm. 

“Do you think…” Elsa murmured after a while, but then she trailed off and did not continue.

“Do I think what, honey?”

“Never mind.”

“Elsa.”

“No, really, it’s fine. It’s not fair to you.”

Heins waited.  _ Seven… six… five… four… three… two… one… _

“Do you think-” Heins grinned, when there was something on Elsa’s mind, the silent treatment always worked- “that there was another way?”

“What do you mean?” Heins asked, the smile fading to be replaced with a frown.

“Besides…” She gestured behind herself, and Heins got it.  _ Besides getting them killed _ . “I’ve always wondered. Could I have done something different?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Of course it matters. If I could have done something different, I should have. If I could have, I as good as killed them- didn’t I?” She took a deep, shuddering breath. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be putting this on you right now.”

“No, you definitely should,” Heins said, pushing Elsa away so that he could look into her eyes. “What better time or place could there be for me to tell you that is absolute nonsense.”  _ Okay, Heins, cool it, back it down a tad- you know what, fuck it _ . “So, what,  _ after _ the fact, you’re going back over it all and wondering if you made any mistakes. Guess what? You did. We all did. But we’re here, and the world is safe, because of  _ you _ . Because of the choices you made. There wasn’t time to come up with perfect decisions, there was only the time to act, and you acted. We went up against a  _ god _ , and won, because of the choices you made. I’d give my life for you, any day, if you told me to, because I’d know that it would be the right choice. Not the  _ perfect _ choice. The  _ right _ choice. And the Queensguard believed the same thing.”

He hadn’t meant to get so heated, and wondered if perhaps he’d gone too far in his answer. She was looking at him, not crying, with only a tiny hint of a frown distorting her eyebrows. After a moment, she leaned forward and rested her head on his shoulder as he put his arms around her, and she around him. “Thank you for saying that,” she whispered. “I know you’re right, but…”

“You know what,” Heins said, and Elsa raised her head, peering at him. “Don’t talk to me about it. Talk to them.” He climbed to his feet, brushing the dust off himself, then helped Elsa up. He led her around to the front of the grave marker. “Go ahead,” he urged, as Elsa looked at him with an uncomfortable pout. “It’ll make you feel better, I promise.” He knew this from experience.

Elsa still looked uncomfortable, but she looked back at the grave and cleared her throat. “Um… hi everyone,” she said. “Uh… how have you been?” She winced a little at that, and even Heins had to fight the urge to chuckle. He’d done the same thing on his first visit. “Sorry, I don’t really know what to say.” She looked at Heins, hoping for guidance, but he just gestured her back to the grave. She had to say this for herself. “I wanted to… thank you. And apologize. I sent you into the lion’s den that day, but… because of that, we won. Thanks to you, we won. So… thank you, for believing in me.” She had begun to cry, tears running down her face. “I’m so sorry you couldn’t be here to see this… You’re the reason the kingdoms are at peace. You gave that to them, to all of them. I wish… I wish I could have saved you, but… I had to. I couldn’t see another way to win. I’m sorry you paid with your lives, and I’m still here.” This was a little unfair to Elsa- she had willingly laid down her life, too- but Heins didn’t think it was the right time to point that out. “Thank you… for everything.”

She fell silent, and Heins went over and gathered her up in his arms. She rested her head on his chest, her breathing shaky, but not sobbing. “Feel better?” he murmured. She nodded. “I’m so proud of you. And they would be too.”

“You tricked me,” Elsa muttered.

“Huh?”

“You got me to say it out loud. There wasn’t another way. Not with the time we had to act.”

“It wasn’t a trick,” Heins said, chuckling. “But it was the idea, yeah. I did the same thing my first time here.”

“Thanks.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“I miss them.”

“I miss them too.”


	120. After the Restoration: Seven Months After

“Are you sure these reports are right?” Kristoff asked.

“Absolutely, Your Highness,” General Lorenson said, beaming at him. “Lieutenant General Hjall brought me this report himself. He saw it personally.”

Kristoff stared down at the documents in his hand. It couldn’t be… But they had to come from  _ somewhere _ , right? He had to see for himself. “That will be all, General, dismissed.” General Lorenson saluted and about-faced, leaving Kristoff’s office and closing the door behind him. Kristoff read and reread the report. He  _ HAD  _ to see for himself. He leapt to his feet and burst out of the door, running down the hall, dodging servants carrying trays, ignoring their questioning calls. Anna was in the library, last he knew, and as he skidded to a stop just inside, he saw a red ponytail waving at him as Anna’s head flicked back and forth, reading whatever book she had, her feet up on the table.

“Anna!” Kristoff called, quite forgetting where he was, and he received a few scandalized looks from the other patrons of the library. Anna turned around, frowning, and put a finger to her lips, hushing him. Kristoff beckoned her impatiently, and he could see her grow concerned. She got up, leaving the book on the table, and hurried over to him.

“What?” she whispered, but he seized her arm and pulled her out of the library, letting the doors swing closed. Once they had, he thrust the documents towards her.

“Read this!” he said, unable to contain his excitement.

Anna’s frown deepened as her eyes swept across the page, and then- “Oh!” she gasped, eyes wide, clapping a hand to her mouth. She finished the page and looked up at him. “Is this accurate?”

“According to Lorenson, yeah, and Hjall apparently saw it personally.”

“Well let’s go!” Anna said, reading his mind. “Let me change quick-”

“No, it’s fine, I need to too, come on,” and they set off at a brisk pace towards their bedroom. Anna was walking with a spring in her step, and Kristoff was almost shaking with excitement. They got back to their room and changed in record time, throwing on some traveling clothes, then rushing back down to the stables. They were on their way shortly after that, trotting through the streets, then, as soon as they left the city gates, bursting into a gallop. Kristoff realized that they were following the very same trail that had first led him to Anna, so many years ago. He’d ridden this trail before, but never at this pace, like the King and Queen had done then. All that was missing was a trail of ice on the ground for him to follow.

They arrived at the Valley of Living Rock only a few minutes later, and Kristoff’s horse hadn’t even stopped moving before he hopped off of it, landing easily and running forward, into the circle of stone, and he was once more struck with a feeling of deja vu- he was right where they had been, and Kristoff had been up behind that rock there, where he first met Bulda.

“Hello? Anyone here?” he called. He saw many rocks that seemed suspicious, but he couldn’t be sure. “I’m a friend of the trolls,” he said. “I won’t hurt you.” He saw several of the rocks quiver in place, but none revealed themselves yet. “I was raised by the ones who were here before you. My name is Kristoff. This is my wife, Anna,” he said, raising an arm towards her. “We’re here as friends. We’d very much like to meet you.”

For a moment, nothing happened. Kristoff was about to head back to Arendelle, happy with the knowledge that there were trolls here again at all, maybe come back another day, when one of the rocks rolled behind another rock- a true rock, this time- and sprang open. A young troll, only a few weeks old at most, hid behind it, looking at Kristoff with narrowed eyes.

_ “You human!”  _ the troll squeaked.

“Yes, but I’m a friend,” Kristoff said, his voice soft and as friendly as he could make it. “What’s your name?”

_ “Me Pip!” _

“Pip, huh? It’s nice to meet you, Pip. I’m Kristoff.”

_ “Me know! Me already heard Kristoff-man say name.” _

“Are you the leader here?”

_ “Yes!”  _ Pip declared.  _ “Pip biggest and strongest. Pip protect others. _ ”

“Good for you,” Kristoff said, smiling. “May we visit again?”

_ “Hmm. Me thinking… Me says Kristoff-man and Anna-man bring gift for Pip’s friends, and then may come back!” _

“Thank you, kind Pip,” Kristoff said, bowing low, then turning around and leaving, much to Anna’s disappointment.

“We came all this way for that?” she hissed. “He’s so  _ cute! _ ”

“I know, but they don’t know me yet. It’s better to let them adjust. Trolls don’t change very quickly.”

“Fiiine,” Anna grumbled, as they got back to the horses. “But still. Trolls! They’re back!”

“Not the same ones,” Kristoff sighed. “All that culture, that history, lost. It died with them. Like- Phlegmy the Fungus Troll. None of these ones will know that.”

“Oh Kristoff,” Anna sighed. “I swear, you’re  _ actually _ a troll, because that head of yours is dense as stone.”

“What are you talking about?”

“ _ You _ , silly.  _ You _ have that culture, that history. You can share it with them!”

Kristoff stopped, his hand on the reins, one foot half lifted to the stirrup. He really was dense sometimes. He looked back at Anna, whose face was shining. “I can, can’t I?” he breathed. He thought of Bulda, and Grandpabbie, and Spike, and everyone else. He could make sure they lived on, at least in some way. 

“Don’t I know it?” she said, winking and striding over to him. “There’s a bunch of books on troll history in the library, too, and old troll legends, and-” her words were cut off as Kristoff pulled her into a long, deep kiss.

“You’re incredible,” Kristoff breathed as they broke apart.

“Me too…” Anna sighed. “Wait, no, me either- wait, you either- wait, you too!” she stammered, and Kristoff laughed.

“As smooth with your words as ever, I see,” he laughed, taking her back into his arms.

“Admit it, it’s why you love me,” Anna murmured, snuggling into his chest.

“That, and so, so,  _ so _ much more.” They stayed like that, entwined in each other’s arms, for a long time, at peace with themselves, at peace with each other.


	121. After the Restoration: Anna - Nineteen Months After

“I thought they’d have either torn it down or rebuilt it by now,” Kristoff muttered, climbing down from his horse before helping Anna off hers. Anna accepted the help with a grateful nod. They’d spent more than a week in the saddle, and Anna didn’t do well with cold weather, even with Ifrit to keep her warm. She had on four layers and was still shivering. She’d been trying not to let Kristoff worry about her, but she couldn’t suppress another shiver as she climbed down.

“Poor baby,” Kristoff muttered. “C’mere.” He took a blanket from his pack and threw it over her shoulders, then wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her arms up and down, trying to warm her up.

“I’m okay, you don’t need to do that,” Anna protested.

“I know,” was his only reply, and he continued. It  _ did _ feel nice, and was helping a little. They started making their way into the burned town of Fulbeck. A soft white pillow of snow lay over the ruined buildings. Many of them were only half standing, either through damage of the fire that night or the relentless pounding of the elements for twenty years. The snow cast a deathly hush over the town, muffling their footsteps, even seeming to dull the sound of Anna’s own breathing.

“That was Frigga’s house,” Kristoff murmured, nodding towards a house that seemed to have been damaged more than most by the fire. The roof had collapsed, and two of the walls had fallen in. “Her body’s probably still under all that, somewhere.”

“You should go pee on it,” Anna blurted out, without thinking.

Kristoff roared with laughter. “Maybe I should, huh? Serves that bitch right.” He chuckled a few more times, then his face grew serious. “That’s the second time you’ve been able to make me smile when thinking about that old hag. Thank you.” 

Anna had no idea whatsoever what the first time had been, but she said, “You’re welcome,” anyway. They continued through the town. Anna tried to put herself in Kristoff’s shoes- what must be going through his head, returning to the place his beloved sister had been killed? She couldn’t fathom. She tried imagining seeing Elsa killed when Anna was only seven, and the thought repulsed her so intensely that she felt nauseous for a moment. She’d even offered to bypass the town- they were only  _ really _ here to visit Lilly, after all, but Kristoff had insisted.

“This is where it happened,” Kristoff said, gesturing out towards a large, open space near the middle of town. The gallows themselves had long since fallen to the elements, but portions of the raised platform could still be seen. “That’s where…. Where Lilly…” He trailed off, and Anna could see tears in his eyes.

“Hey, you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Kristoff said, nodding, but she felt him pull her a little closer. She cuddled as close to his side as she could.

“I’m here, sweetie.”

“I know. Come on.”

The next time Kristoff stopped, it was in front of the biggest house in the town. She knew whose it was before he spoke. “This is the Duke’s house.” He fell silent, looking troubled. “I killed him so slowly… I didn’t have to do that.”

“Oh, Kristoff,” Anna sighed, moving around to his front and putting her arms around his neck, wrapping the both of them in the blanket, as though that could help amplify her love. “I don’t blame you. I don’t think anyone would.”

“I blame me.”

“You were just a kid, Kristoff,” Anna said, sliding back to look into his eyes, both hands on his shoulders, “and this man- no, this piece of filth, had just taken your sister from you. Don’t you  _ dare _ shed a tear for someone like that.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Kristoff grumbled. “What’s got you so worked up?”

Anna bit her lip. She wasn’t even really sure. “Because,” she began, hoping she’d run across the answer mid sentence. “I just… I don’t like you beating yourself up for something like that. You’re a good man who did a not so good thing to someone who, in my opinion, deserved  _ far worse _ . And… I don’t like the idea of you feeling guilty for that. He doesn’t deserve it.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Kristoff sighed, pulling her close again. “Now come on. Let’s go see Lilly.”

* * *

“Have you ever been back here before?” Anna asked as they trudged through the snow. The quiet forest seemed to muffle her words even as she spoke them.

“No. I’ve… always been afraid to.”

“....”

“I was too ashamed to face her when no one knew about her. It felt like I was keeping her a secret, like her life didn’t matter. The day I told you… it felt like… I don’t know. I felt really different after that.”

“I know what you mean.” He gave her a questioning look. “That day… it was the first day since before the Fall that I was truly happy. Not because of the story- you remember how hard I cried? But because... “

“You finally knew the real me.”

Anna nodded. “I knew you before, but… there always felt like there was this wall. No, not wall… hmm… a foggy window. I could see little glimpses of the you underneath you, but not the whole thing. When you told me that… It just… it was nice. You trusted me enough to tell me something like that.”

“Sorry it took so long,” Kristoff mumbled.

“I wasn’t ready to hear it before that,” Anna shrugged. “Do you remember- god, it was so long ago- when I got so mad at you for killing those assassins?” He nodded.

“How could I forget? I thought I lost you that day.”

“You almost did, because I was too sheltered and naive to see past anything other than surface level. If you’d have told me before you did, I think I would have left- and me-now would have kicked me-then’s ass  _ so hard _ for that. No, I think you waited the perfect amount of time. I had some growing up to do.”

“We’ve both changed so much since then,” Kristoff said in a quiet voice, coming to a stop. Anna looked at him.

“Kristoff? Are you okay?”

“She’s right up there…” he said, pointing. “Would she even recognize me?”

“.... Come here,” Anna said, pulling him close. “You’re still the same person underneath it all, just like I am. We didn’t just change, we grew. And we did it together- after a fashion, anyway. I’ve loved you more every day since the day we met- granted, it wasn’t a very high bar at first-” both of them chuckled at the memory of bumping into each other at Oaken’s Trading Post (And Sauna) that day- “but it’s been growing every day. You’re still the same stubborn, aloof ice harvester you were that day, but you’re so, so much more now. And I’m still the same silly princess with her head full of fluff about true love and fairytale endings, but I’m so much more now. Plus- I got my true love, and my fairytale ending, right here in my arms.”

“I do too,” he sighed, squeezing her tight before withdrawing. “You’re right. Let’s go say hi.”

The spot was as beautiful as Kristoff had described. He had remembered his way back perfectly, despite the snow covering the ground, and even pointed out the tree he had carved Lilly’s epitaph into, but the bark had long since covered the spot. 

“So make one,” Anna murmured. “Make one from stone.”

Kristoff looked at her, swallowed hard, then plucked a rock from the frozen riverbed. It was large, worn smooth, and a beautiful swirled black color. He set it at where he knew Lilly’s grave to be, then stood up, frowning in concentration. At once, words etched themselves into the surface.

_ Here Lies Lilly _

_ The Best Big Sister Ever _

_ I Love You _

“Thank you, Lilly,” Kristoff said, his voice breaking. “I miss you. So much.”

“Lilly… I can’t tell you how grateful I am to you,” Anna said, already feeling tears welling up. “Your love gave me the greatest gift I could ever hope to receive, but not just me. Kristoff is a kind, caring, generous man- even if it took some prodding to get him to show it at first.” She choked out a laugh. “He’s done so much for so many people. He saved me. He saved the world. And he was only able to do that because of your gift. I wish… we could have met. I hope we would have been friends. Thank you, Lilly. And… I want to do something for you, too.”

“Anna?” Kristoff asked, tears leaking from his eyes, but she ignored him and closed her eyes, concentrating. She felt out her magic, willed it to a single point. She’d been practicing this for months, ever since they began planning this trip. She hadn’t been sure it was possible, but with a lot of late nights, and Elsa’s help, she thought she could pull it off. She poured her strength into the magic, carrying it higher and higher, brighter and brighter, and then, when she could take it no more, she released it, opening her eyes with a gasp as a small flame burst into being, just above the rock. A wave of intense exhaustion crashed over her, and she collapsed, crumpling to the ground as her legs lost their strength in an instant.

“Anna!” Kristoff cried, dropping down next to her, his eyes full of concern.

“‘m okay,” Anna gasped.

“What happened?”

“My… gift to… Lilly,” she panted. She felt like she’d just run thirty miles at a sprint.

“What do you mean?”

Anna shook her head. “Lemme… catch… breath…” She shivered. She’d fallen on a snowdrift.

“Oh, sweetie, c’mere,” Kristoff said, pulling her up and cradling her in his lap.

“Thanks…” He held her like this for a few minutes, until Anna’s breathing finally normalized. “I’m okay now,” Anna mumbled. “I think. Is it still going?”

“The fire? Yeah. I don’t know how you kept it going through that, you almost passed out a few times. What happened? Are you okay?”

“I’m great,” Anna said, sitting up so that she was mostly in his lap, smiling weakly. “I’m not keeping it going.”

“What?”

“Something I’ve been working on. For Lilly, to… thank her. That light will never go out. Rain, snow, sleet, wind- doesn’t matter. It will always be there. It’s… my gratitude.” 

“Anna….” Kristoff looked at the dancing flame for a long time. Anna could see tears rolling down his face, but she didn’t say anything. “Thank you,” he said at last. They sat together in the falling snow for a long time, not speaking, simply being with each other, and the sleeping Lilly under the white blanket.


	122. After the Restoration: Elsa - Fifteen Months After

“This can’t be happening…” Elsa moaned, as Heins, Anna and Kristoff sat around her in the lounge.

“C’mon, Els, you had to know this was coming,” Kristoff said.

“She’s just a kid!” Elsa protested.

“She’s almost fifteen now, and more than capable of making her own choices,” Anna argued.

“Exactly! She’s not even fifteen! She can’t handle something like this!”

“Elsa, it’s not like she can’t take care of herself,” Heins pointed out, sounding infuriatingly reasonable. “She’s got ice powers too, you know.”

“ _ You’re _ supposed to be on  _ my _ side,” Elsa growled, and Heins shifted around, not making eye contact.

“Face it, Els. This is happening whether you like it or not.”

“I’m the Queen!” Elsa said, slamming her fist on the couch cushion beside her. “I can forbid it!”

“Yeah, but you’re not gonna,” Anna sighed, and Elsa knew she was right. She’d never do that to Ciri. “You’re just freaking out because you worry too much.” Well there was a lot to worry about! Murderers and thieves and liars and-

“What are you guys shouting about?” Ciri’s voice came in from the doorway.

“Nothing,” all four said at once, turning to look at her, and she did  _ not _ look convinced. She was wearing a pretty white blouse and a blue skirt. Her hair was in a casual bun, and she was wearing light makeup for once. She wore a beautiful sapphire necklace that Anna had lent her, plus earrings from Elsa.

“Oooooh, you look  _ beautiful! _ ” Anna squealed. “Where are you guys going?”

“Um, he’s just taking me to a play in the city,” Ciri said, blushing and fidgeting, twirling a lock of hair around her finger. “We’re meeting at the castle gates soon. He’s really cute, I’m really nervous…”

“Maybe you shouldn’t go,” Elsa suggested.

“Huh?”

Three pairs of eyes glared at Elsa. “Nothing,” Anna called to Ciri, still staring daggers at Elsa. “My sister is just a little  _ overprotective _ , aren’t you sis?”

“I can’t believe you’re going on a date!” Elsa burst out. “If you’re not back by dark, so help me, I will come find you- don’t think I won’t!”

“Ugghhh, fine,” Ciri groaned, rolling her eyes.

“And you know what to do if he tries to kiss you on the first date, right?”

“Don’t use too much tongue?” Ciri asked, grinning.

“No!” Elsa cried, while Anna and Kristoff, roaring with laughter, high-fived. Elsa sighed. She was only putting up a token resistance now. In truth, she was thrilled for Ciri. That didn’t mean she wasn’t worried.

“Just… be careful, okay?”

“I will,” Ciri promised, then glanced at the clock on the wall. “Oh, shoot, I’m gonna be late. See you later!”

“Wait!” Elsa called. Ciri paused, half poised to run. “Ciri… I love you. And have fun, okay?”

Ciri beamed. “I will. I love you too. See ya!” With that, she darted down the hall. Elsa let out a long sigh. 

“She’ll be fine, Elsa,” Anna said, moving along the couch to snuggle into Elsa’s side.

Elsa put an arm around her sister. “Yeah… I know.” And she would be. Everything was.

**The End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's done. Just over six years ago, I posted Part 1 to this trilogy to ff.net. It's been a long road since then, and I wasn't always working on it, but it was always there, in the back of my mind, toying with ideas and concepts, thinking of scenes and development I wanted to happen- and now it's over. Feels a bit like saying goodbye to an old friend.
> 
> To those of you that have made it this far, thank you. I cannot express how much your support of this little story of mine means. I want to take a moment to thank kate_fy in particular, as her kind words and encouragement has actually inspired me to write a continuation to this story.
> 
> I tend to get long-winded in these notes, so I'll try to be brief. The Darkness Among Us trilogy is a completed story, and will remain so. However, I am expanding the world slightly under the tentative title of "The Legacy of Arendelle". There will be a new story, following the character of Ciri, and set ten years after the Restoration, released hopefully sometime next year. Our old heroes will still be around, their victory will NOT be undone, and they will NOT be disrespected (I'm looking at you, Disney Star Wars), but the main character will be Ciri, and the story will deal largely with original characters within this setting, in a relatively isolated adventure. It will also be a lot less dark of an affair- not exactly fluffy, but much lighter in tone and content than DAU. These characters have been through enough. 
> 
> Whether you follow me into that new adventure or not, again, I want to thank you for reading, and I sincerely hope you enjoyed the Darkness Among Us trilogy.


End file.
